


The second visit

by siren_of_the_ocean



Series: Holy Gravity Falls Batman! [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Gravity Falls, Justice League - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: 2 Tims, Alternate Universe, BAMF Tim Drake, Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Body Horror, Child Neglect, Dimension Travel, Gen, Gore, Green Lanterns (DCU), Portals between dimensions, Post-Weirdmageddon, Swearing, The all blades, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake-centric, Tim drake is a citizen of gravity falls, Tim drake is stilla coffee gremlin, Yellow Lanterns (DCU), no beta we die like jason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:26:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25634272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siren_of_the_ocean/pseuds/siren_of_the_ocean
Summary: Tim has his luck. His luck is that another version of himself would fall through an interdimensional portal and cause Jason to reveal his identity. And now the alternate is here again.But. There might be a bigger problem. Besides Alternate Tim and Constantine becoming friends, a fight is brewing. Something that the justice league is far from prepared for. Tim is, he's lived through Weirdmageddon after all. But will he be able to save this universe? Where there is no Pines family? Where there is no prophecy?
Relationships: John Constantine & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Dipper Pines, Tim Drake & Ford Pines, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Stan Pines, Tim drake & Soos, Tim drake & black orchid, Tim drake & wendy
Series: Holy Gravity Falls Batman! [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853170
Comments: 24
Kudos: 108





	1. Here we go again

**Author's Note:**

> All warnings for Bill Cypher apply. So do all the warnings for John constantine. And Jason Todd.

It's been weeks since their multiversal visitor left the justice league with more questions than answers. Red Hood had made a remark about Red Robin, not exactly being subtle and thus Red Robin's identity was revealed to most of the league. 

Of course, all they had to go on was a cryptic remark from the Red Hood but most leaguers had accepted that Red Robin was this universe's version of Tim Drake. Which lead to Batman threatening the entire justice league, however Red Robin's threats had been much more...creative. Hal had commented that no-one that pretty should be so scary. 

So naturally it was the day that Red Robin was in the watchtower that yet another portal appeared. Everyone once again stood at the ready but they now had an idea of what to expect. 

Most people kept to the same positioning that they used last time, with Red Hood falling a bit back and Red Robin standing more towards the front. The portal sparked only once before a figure fell through at speed, landing on their side and immediately getting to their feet. 

It was Tim again, this time armed. The gun wasn't like anything anyone had ever seen. More like Cyborg's sonic cannon than any pistol. 

"Woah, Tim. You know us. Put down the gun" Red Robin said, one hand up and the other reaching more towards the small of his back. Other Tim glanced over the room, lingering on Red Hood and Red Robin before frowning. 

"Where's the other one? The one with the trench coat?" he asks but lowers the gun, bolstering it at his side with sharp movements. 

Red Robin stares for a moment before saying "He's dealing with something at the moment"

"Yeah, I believe he said that there were demons on the loose in San Antonio?" Barry explains. Other Tim's eyes flicking over to him before he relaxes. His hand falls away from his weapon and he runs his hand through his hair before breathing deeply. 

"Alright. I might be here a while then. Ford and Stan are a bit...occupied. So do you mind if I stay a while?" he asks, seeming almost shy. Red Robin cocks his head to the side for a moment before smiling. 

"You could stay as long as needed" he agrees. Other Tim swallows and his smile becomes strained "I won't stay long. Just until Ford can come and get me. I really should keep a reality gun on me. Or a mini portal" he rambles.

The bats seem to take that as some sort of cue. Red hood leaning against the wall, Robin sitting down almost nonchalantly, Spoiler sighing heavily and dragging Orphan down to sit on the floor with her while Batman's shoulders heave in a silent sigh. 

Nightwing is the one that places a hand on Other Tim's shoulder, which does not go as anticipated. Other Tim's other hand snaps up, covering Nightwing's before leaning his hip back and throwing Nightwing over his shoulder. 

Nightwing being Nightwing almost immediately recovers and lands on his feet but Other Tim's blink implies that he did not know that that would happen. His eyes trail over the Nightwing blue and black suit before resting on the white out lenses. "Sorry" he coughs, feet shuffling slightly as he avoids eye contact with everyone. 

That's when Batman notices the slight tremble of Tim's fingers, a sign that this dimension's Tim usually exhibits when a fight was cut short. "Are you injured?" Batman asks, taking an instinctive step forward while Tim takes an immediate step back. 

Tim eyes him for a second before sighing and tugging on the shirt he has on, pulling it up and revealing a long cut on his side. The cut isn't deep but it is bleeding quite a bit. "What happened?" Red Robin asks, stepping forward and accepting a first aid kit from Black Bat. 

Tim eyes his alternate for a second before answering "Stupid revenants and their penchant for violence. One of them managed to get their hands on a knife" he says. Everyone in the room frowns in confusion before Cyborg asks "Revenants?" like he would rather not be here at all. 

"Yeah. You know. Revenants. About ye tall, absolutely disgusting to look at, and don't seem to understand people all that well" Tim states, eyeing Cyborg as if he should already know this information. "Seems like there are a few dimensional differences. We don't have revenants. At least not that we know of" Wonder Woman states, smiling slightly. 

Tim shakes his head, going to answer before he hisses through his teeth, looking down at Red Robin rubbing antiseptic into the wound. He grumbles something about being less aggressive and Red Robin answers "Do you want to die of an infection?" to which Tim answers "I have never picked up an infection from a field wound. Never". 

Red Robin huffs before starting to bandage the wound. Tim complains about the apparent rough treatment but doesn't react violently. The cut was shallow enough to be a flesh wound and though it was longer than most would like, it wasn't fatal. 

Red Hood huffs a laugh at the two alternates antagonizing each other, as subtle as it may be. "You might have revenants and not even know it. Most of the town didn't even know of the gnomes before well...before" Tim says, head tilting to the side slightly in thought. 

Cyborg's working eye gives a twitch at the mention of another supposedly mythical creature. Wonder Woman seems to have taken it in stride however, starting to interrogate the interdimensional guest about other strange creatures. 

"So. Where is he gonna stay?" Red hood asks, hand resting on Red Robin's shoulder to keep him in the circle of bats. Red Robin seemed very interested and very confused at the mention of multibears. 

"He'll stay with me. The nest can definitely house 2 of me" Red Robin states easily, already starting to alter the route home to swing by another coffee shop and maybe a grocery store. Spoiler raises an eyebrow at the implied mess that would be 2 Tim Drakes before snorting out a laugh "Maybe this one actually remembers to eat and doesn't live off of coffee and spite". 

The family turns to look at the Other Tim, already pouring a cup of coffee from a coffee pot and instinctively narrow their eyes. "Or maybe not" Red Hood states, to which Red Robin answers by attempting to grab the cup from Tim and claim it as his own. 

The alternates stare at each other, Tim's hand locked onto the main part of the cup while Red Robin grips the top. They glare at each other before Red Hood rips the cup from their hands, accidentally jarring Tim's injury. Tim lets out a loud breath but immediately scrabbles up to grab the coffee pot on the table. 

Red Robin aims an elbow at Tim's back, to everyone's horror and protest though Tim simply directs the blow away with a slap of his hand. Tim's hand clasps around the handle of the coffee pot as Red Robin falls back, almost giving up. 

Wonder Woman's eyes glitter in suppressed laughter, watching with Superman, wide eyed and still somewhat worried at her side. Even Hal Jordan seems amused at the two Tims squabbling over the coffee pot with Barry smiling and trying to smother his laughter. Cyborg's eyes however keep falling down to Tim's hip, where he holstered the strange gun. 

Red Hood settles against the wall as Red Robin lunges for the pot, Batman watching closely at the apparent squabbling. The bats know better. They know that Red Robin is testing his counterpart and they're pretty sure that Tim knows that. This wasn't simple squabbling, this was a low level sparring match and none of them were really sure who was winning. 

Tim seemed to have a weight advantage but Red Robin had been fighting people bigger than him for years and both of them were smart. Tim throwing his weight, trying to overpower Red Robin, while Red Robin uses his experience to avoid Tim's hits and both of them attempting increasingly elaborate tactics. 

Red Hood cheers as Tim lands a glancing blow to Red Robin's shoulder and Spoiler joins in when Red Robin uses his momentum from that to land a kick. The supers in the room simply stare, watching a civilian taking on a bat. And managing to hold their own. 

The spar is however cut short when Constantine appears in a doorway, both of the fighters taking a second to take in the new occupant of the room. A symbol in the corner of Tim's glasses flares to life in a holographic white sheen and he immediately abandons the fight, eyes wide. He spins away from Red Robin's grapple, grabbing the pot of coffee along the way and immediately emptying it onto Constantine's coat. 

"Oi! What the bloody hell are you doing?" Constantine yells, trying to pull his coat end from Tim' grip. Tim simply lifts his coat to show the smoking area at the bottom, where it was previously on fire and was then doused by the now cold coffee. 

His smile is a bit shy as Constantine frowns before taking off his trenchcoat to look at the damage. Tim slowly looks over the scorched part before handing it over. Constantine inspects the coat to find a large part of it was scorched, sighing at the damage to his favorite coat.

"Dude, how did you not notice that you were on fire?" Barry asks, snickering slightly. Tim is the one who answers, stating that Hellfire can sometimes smolder instead of having outright flames, eating away at something without any visual clues. Constantine eyes Tim for a second before confirming. 

"My question is how the fuck ye even knew. It shouldn't have been visible to you from there and if even I didn't notice..." Constantine trails off lightly. Tim smiles at that before lightly pulling off his glasses, pointing to the frame. 

It's a simple frame, seems metallic with black paint, thin and all around the lenses. In short it looks like any other frame you could pick up at the optometrist. But when Constantine's hand makes contact with it, symbols engraved into the metal begin to glow lightly. 

"The frame is engraved with a myriad of symbols to detect magic, any traces of demons, as well as a few other things like dimensional disturbances." Tim taps a symbol glowing in the corner of his glasses on the left lens. Two triangles layered over each other, overlapping at certain points. 

"That's the symbol I use for unnatural fire. Which basically means anything that isn't set my nature or man. It lights up when I look over anything that is alight with that. Makes dealing with it easier" Tim says, scratching the back of his head "The others range from detecting symbols to protection symbols" he concludes, laughing nervously at the looks from everyone in the room. 

"I might hav'ta steal the bugger for a while Batsy" Constantine says, looking Tim over with a new light in his eye.


	2. House of mystery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John Constantine and Tim really do get along. To the detriment of literally everyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constantine makes an innuendo to Tim when Tim blushes. This is a statement that I will not be pairing off Tim and Constantine.

Tim slowly talks over each of the symbols with Constantine as they walk to the house of mystery. The bats had put up quite a fight to keep Tim with them but the second Constantine mentioned a mystical, sentient house that managed to give itself a body, they lost him. 

Tim's eyes had widened and almost glowed with curiosity before firmly saying that he was going with Constantine. The bats knew that there was no arguing with him when he was like that so they agreed, but not before planting trackers, tracers and bugs on him. 

The house came into view with a shimmer, as it materialized on the hillside next to the Hall of Justice. The league and bats had long abandoned watching them, at least from where they could see. Tim could feel at least 3 sets of eyes on him, 2 from above and 1 from ground level. 

Once he saw the house though, he stopped caring. The symbols flaring to life on the side were a bright red instead of Tim's holographic white and there seemed to be a perimeter set up about 100m from the house itself. Tim could feel the resistance as he pushed through. 

Then the door opened. The house, which was interesting before became fascinating as a purple person with wings stepped forward. They looked almost like some depictions of fairies "This is Orchid. Remember how I said the house gave itself a body. Well this is it". 

Tim looked the manifestation over with keen eyes, various symbols lighting up on his glasses before stepping forward, a hand extended to Orchid. Orchid tilted their head, blinking slowly at him "I do not recognize this tradition" they intone, smooth voice flowing over Tim, unnatural in a way that he can't decipher. 

"It's called a handshake. Humans use it as an introduction. We take the others' hand and shake" Tim explains, demonstrating while keeping eye contact with Orchid. The symbols along his glasses stay white as their eyes meet. Orchid nods along with his explanation while Constantine watches, leaning against the wall. 

Orchid observes Tim once again before stating "I will show you to your room". Constantine startles slightly, "I didn't say he'd be staying" he says, his eyes narrowing. Orchid simply lets their blank stare fall on him, saying "He would not be here if he was not to stay, you know this, John". 

Tim's eyes widen in mirth before falling on Constantine "Your name is John?" he asks, head tilted to the side and face masked into the perfect facsimile of innocence. Constantine grumbles that he prefers to use his surname in any of his business dealings, including the justice league. Orchid simply says "Of course" before turning and leading Tim down a short hallway to what is presumably his room. 

The room isn't lavish. In fact it looks more like a lab than an actual place to sleep. Microscopes, voltage meters and other pieces of equipment lay around the room in disarray, the bed unmade and the desk overflowing with loose pages. Even the books off to the side look haphazardly stacked. 

Tim stops at the entrance to the door, staring hard to the room "Is it to your liking?" Orchid asks, seeming confused. Tim's eyes flit briefly to them before he runs his eyes over the room again "It's an exact replica of my room. Back home" he explains, sounding wary. 

"I aim to make my guests comfortable" Orchid explains but when Tim's eyes meet theirs once again, they go on "I am not able to see into your mind. Not even I am entirely sure how this aspect of the house works. It has simply always been this way". That calms Tim's wariness somewhat, however he reminds himself that they could be lying. 

"Thank you for your assistance" Tim says simply, before tilting his head, hoping that Orchid would explain the customs that need to be used. When Orchid doesn't react beyond turning to walk away he sighs before asking "Are there any customs that I need to follow in regards to the house?" he asks. 

Orchid turns to face him once again, slowly blinking "John Constantine is the master of the house. He has not given me orders around you and your stay in the house. If he were to order me, I would be bound to do your bidding" they explain. Tim frowns "Alright then. I will ask him not to do so" he says, thinking it over in his mind. That sounds way too much like Bill for him to be comfortable. 

Orchid's eyes and face remain blank but something gives Tim the impression that that had won their respect. Orchid then turns and walks away from the room, leaving Tim to his room and the strange mixture of nostalgia, wariness and guilt that stirs in his stomach.

This room had been destroyed along with most of the town during weirdmageddon. His research had been incinerated by Bill himself shortly before that. He should be ecstatic that he could have his research back, but along with that would come the knowledge that it could be used against him. Just like before. 

Tim takes all of the papers on the desk, along with his journals and shove them all into the back of the closet. Out of his sight. His chest seems lighter after that. He breathes deeply and slowly slides down the closet doors before picking himself up from the floor and falling face first onto the bed. 

The sheets are the same, he thinks almost hysterically, looking down at an oil stain he could never get rid of. Thankfully, his thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. 

Just outside the door stands Constantine, smarmy smile in place even as he looks Tim up and down, evaluating. Tim can't help the bright red blush that stains his cheeks when he remembers that he was thrown here mid-fight and thus not exactly presentable. He clears his throat before lifting his head, trying to seem nonchalant. "Yes?" and it was a fail. Of course. The squeak in his voice, barely noticable turns Constantine' smarmy smile into a smirk. 

"Yer a little young for me, kid. No need to look so flustered" that statement makes Tim choke, his blush darkening and spreading down his neck. Constantine laughs before grabbing Tim's shoulder and leading him down the hall to the main room again "Dinner is served. Well delivered in this case"


	3. The danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first introduction of Bill Cypher.

"Batsy has requested your presence in the Watchtower. Has to make sure I haven't stolen your soul or gotten ye eaten" Constantine says, watching Tim from the door of his room. In the last few days, the room has become somewhat more comfortable or at the very least it made him feel less sick. 

Tim raises his head from one of the books he had grabbed from the library in the house. Sure, some of the information may be redundant and others may not be applicable back home but it's not like Tim has ever cared whether information is useful to him or not. 

The statement finally registers in Tim's mind and his lips twitch up into an involuntary smile "Maybe I should tell them about Cape Town. Just to contradict you" he replies evenly, only looking at Constantine out of the corner of his eyes. Cape Town had only been a day ago and while he has only been in this dimension for 2 days, the jibe would hit home. 

He wouldn't tell them, of course but that doesn't make Constantine any less fun to tease. "You breathe a word of that to anyone in the league and you'll have to explain to Orchid why the house has to find a new master" Constantine replies. 

And that is not as great a threat as Constantine intended. Obviously. Orchid has made it abundantly clear that while Constantine is their master, they have no real loyalty to him. But both of them know that. Neither of their bluffs had been real. 

Tim stands slowly, stretching his arms above his head and feeling his vertebrae shift and click back into place. Constantine makes a face at the noise, as he always does but leaves shortly after for Tim to get dressed. 

Tim grabs one of his go-to practical outfits, which makes it easy enough to hide a multitude of weapons on his person. His magnet gun, sonic blaster and his pocketknife all get strapped down neatly before he leaves his room. He also switches his glasses back to the engraved ones. 

He had to switch to normal glasses not long after he started living in the house. Every look around lit up another symbol and looking at Orchid caused him a headache. So he bought a new pair of glasses and started wearing those around the house. 

Soon after, he closes the door of the room, not staying long enough to watch the door dissapear completely, as if it was never there in the first place. Leaving the house felt different too, the perimeter pressing back harder against him than any of the other times he's left. Even Orchid seems to frown at him before shaking his hand goodbye.

All this leaves Tim thinking hard as they walk from the house of mystery to the hall of justice. Just a few hundred meters of course but it's long enough for a sense of dread to settle into Tim's bones. 

The greeting as they enter seems rambunctious, some members seeming suprised at his continued survival and others looking him over for injury. Tim's eyebrows raise before he shakes his head, heading towards the chair that was left vacant by the Bats. 

They all look him over slowly, except for Red Hood, who decides to skip the detective part and just ask "You still have your soul?". Tim snorts but nods "You injured?" to which Tim says no "You didn't die?". Tim reels back and frowns at him "Obviously. I'm here aren't I?" he states. Hood raises an eyebrow, reminding Tim of their first chat, where he explained that he had died and come back. 

"I am not injured. In fact my previous wound is healing nicely. I did not die. I still have my soul. My limbs are all attached and my mind is still whole" Tim huffs. Everyone in the room relaxes at that, while Constantine glares at them all, seemingly indignant at all the implications. 

Red Robin leans over to hand Tim a cup of black coffee, which is immediately inhaled. After Tim gestures to Red Robin with the empty cup, he fills it up again, smiling slightly. 

"So. What have you been up to?" Nightwing asks, attempting to sound casual. The bats raise an eyebrow at his tone but don't comment while Constantine explains about some small, demonic creature that ended up in Cape Town. Tim just smirks as everyone assumes that he had been home for that debacle. 

Red Robin stares at his counterpart for a second before asking "You took the alternate universe visitor demon hunting, didn't you?". It was clearly aimed at Constantine, which saved Tim the need to respond, simply watching over the lip of his coffee mug as everyone started screaming. Red Robin nudged his counterpart, looking over to him before starting to scan for injuries. 

Tim huffs in displeasure, gesturing to his body and clearly indicating that he is unharmed "You know. I'm not some kind of civilian. I fell in here armed and everything" he says. Constantine takes that in stride, explaining that Tim had his own sort of training, that he could take care of himself. 

"If you're such a hot shot then maybe you can tell me what this is" Hal says in challenge, handing Constantine a picture. Constantine raises an eyebrow, taking it and looking it over before shaking his head in denial. "I have no idea what the bloody hell that is, looks demonic maybe, if ye squint" he says. 

Tim frowns before waving his hand to Constantine, who hands over the picture. As soon as he glimpses at it though, he freezes, all of the symbols on his glasses flaring a bright white. Tim's eyes immediately narrow at Hal "Where did you get that?" he asks, his voice no longer joking, his face pale and his shoulders stiff. 

Everyone stops at the sudden change, looking at each other for guidance but Tim is having none of it. He stands and heads toward Hal "If you want this world safe in any way, you will tell me exactly where you got this, if it is real and where this creature is" he says, his voice loud and serious. 

"Why? Do you recognize it?" Batman asks, looking between Tim and Hal in concern. Tim doesn't even glance at Batman, eyes solely focused on Hal as the man tries to keep eye contact with an angry Tim Drake. Tim leans forward over Hal before stating "I know who he is. I know what he's capable of. I know that if he manages to get a body, everyone in this universe is screwed. I know that we beat him back home and I know how. But if you even think that I'll give you that information without being involved...then you can go screw yourself and watch your world burn" 

Even the bats seem taken aback by that. Tim's words reverberating in their skulls. Everyone can tell that Tim is being completely sincere, even as he speaks and gestures around the room with ferocity. His glasses still glowing but instead of being directed at the picture, they seem to be glowing more like the time Constantine held them. Glowing with power. 

It's an intimidating display but the members of the justice league never involve civilians in their battles. They would not let Tim get involved in whatever Hal saw and Tim seems to see their thoughts as they think them, stating "Just like before. I hold all the cards. You can try to keep me out of this but you have no idea what you're dealing with. If you try to deal with this yourself, not only will you end up dead but you'll take your entire dimension with you" 

Red Robin steps in before the tension can get any higher, physically stepping between Tim and Hal with his hands in front of him, placating. When he sees Tim's eyes though, he stops. Scans his eyes again before sighing "You aren't going to back down, are you?" Red asks, keeping eye contact and Tim answers with a single, scathing look. 

The fight seems to leave Red in an instant, along with Spoiler and Red Hood, all of them sighing, the fight leaving the rest of the bats when Black Bat shakes her head. That seems to satisfy Tim, who turns to Constantine asking "You know how I work. You know what I'm capable of. Do you think I would make that threat lightly?". 

Constantine meets his eyes easily, smile shaky but present before stating "I've heard yer stories. I've seen ye fight. If yer bluffing, I'll eat my shoe". With the Bats and Constantine backing out of the fight, the rest of the justice league have to question if this is a fight that they won't win. 

Wonder Woman makes an attempt anyway "You could get hurt. You're only human and easily killed" she says. The bats start making offended noises at that, Hood loudly exclaiming that his death hadn't even been permanent. Even Spoiler steps in to explain in harrowing detail how people in man's world formed entire human bodies within their bodies to have children. So they were more resilient than Wonder Woman was giving them credit for. 

A few of the justice league members wince at her...detailed explanation of conception, carry and birth of a child. Even Wonder Woman seems slightly perturbed, eyes wide and jaw hanging low. 

Watching the scene, both Red Robin and Red Hood snicker at the expressions on their faces. Tim, however was not discouraged "Even if humans were weak and fragile as you said, that means nothing in this instance" he says. The attention previously on Spoiler and Wonder Woman falls on him again and this time, he aims to make a statement. 

"He doesn't attack anyone physically. That's pretty rare. He tends to use 2 types of attacks. The first being mental: He is telepathic to a degree and uses that. He sees what you most want in life and he promises to give you that, for a price. Or he just invades your mind while you sleep for a deal with someone else. He can invade your mindscape, dreamscape, concious mind, subconscious. Anything he chooses really. 

The second attack is magical: He sends out a sphere of influence that effects people, objects and ideas. It can turn a water tower into a giant monster, it can turn water into blood and have it flow upside down. It washes over everything and effects it in a chaotic manner. This can only happen if he has a physical form" 

After Tim's explanation, everyone is quiet, digesting the information given to them. Even Superman looks strangely thoughtful about Tim's explanation. 

"Well" Hal interrupts "That sounds interesting and all but he's a part of the Yellow lantern core now. So your information may not be relevant" 

Tim's shoulders shake with a small laugh "There is only one of him. Of his kind. Across all dimensions. Which means that when we managed to get rid of him we might have just sent him out into the ether to gain strength. So this person is still the person that threatened to kill everyone in my town, still the person that turned people to stone for fun, still the person that tortured Ford and held Mabel captive. He's still the same. And you still have no idea what he's capable of" Tim's voice carries across the silent room, reverberating and echoing back to them. 

Wonder Woman has stopped, her hand stilled on her whip. Superman's face had frozen in an expression of conflict. Hal seems to be leaning to Tim's side with every word. Cyborg has frozen, but starts moving again swiftly to take in Tim and everything about him. Even Barry seems to be giving in to the force of nature that is Tim. 

"We haven't even seen the picture. The one that's got you so riled up" Cyborg notes, reaching for the picture still clenched in Tim' hand. Tim relinquishes the picture easily and Cyborg decides not to mention the slight tremble of his fingers. 

On the photo is a figure, a pyramid the colour of gold. With a single eye slightly above the middle of it's body and a black bow tie below it. On the tip of the pyramid, floating slightly above it is a tall black hat. The details blur from there, the picture taken in motion. It seems to have limbs, 2 arms and 2 legs, black in colour. However in the picture, it's hard to see. 

Simply because the hands are engulfed in bright blue flames and the legs are obscured by a pile of bodies. And by the pile of bodies, a pile of yellow rings, matching the one on his finger. 

"Here you see Bill Cypher doing what he does best. Causing chaos and mayhem"


	4. The memories never really leave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim decides to take fate into his own hands. Especially since the league doesn't seem to be taking him seriously. 
> 
> He'll have to make them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character injury, body horror and gore abound. No more than the TV show though, not really.

Bill's visage never did encapsulate how terrifying and dangerous he is. Looking at him, at how he presents himself never seemed like a good enough warning of what he is capable of. He looks strange, yes but he doesn't look dangerous. Even in the picture, where you could see corpses piled under his feet, he didn't look intimidating. 

But Constantine has dealt with Demons that look like Supermodels. Superman deals with Lex Luthor fairly often. Diana knows that war isn't always what you expect it to look like. Barry sees murderers that look completely innocent taken away, helped by his forensic work. Hal knows that some of the prettiest people can be the cruelest, like the Star Sapphires. Cyborg knows that he looks intimidating and that Diana does not, not necessarily. They all know that looks can be deceiving. 

And yet, they don't seem to comprehend the level of threat that Bill is to them and their families and their universe. 

Around him, Tim can hear the league discussing long term imprisonment for Bill. With inhibitor collars and other measures that won't do anything to stop Bill Cypher from tearing through them all. He can even hear Green lantern scoffing at the idea tha they wouldn't be able to handle this fight. 

Tim would have to show them. 

But how? Nothing would really drill in Bill's being. Nothing but seeing Weirdmageddon unfold. So the question is, how to simulate Weirdmageddon. 

Tim's eyes flicker between the members of the league, his eyes lingering on Constantine, Jason and Cyborg. Then, he smirks. Twisting his fingers, dragging them over the symbol on his wrist, he sits down. 

The sudden movement draws the attention of the room but they go back to their silent and not-so-silent communication soon after. Only Constantine keeps his eye on Tim, and he won't interfere. 

Tim has everything he needs. After all, the memories never really go away.

His fingers brush over the symbol on his wrist again, his determination rising with each pass. And on the 13th pass, he closes his eyes and clenches his fist, bringing the memories about that week to the forefront of his mind. 

He can feel Constantine giving him a boost, helping to layer the illusion over the entirey of the room and it's occupants. Tim hears a swear from the Bats group and a stumble from the other. A few metallic noises as Cyborg seems to boot up a weapon and then silence.

Cracking open an eye, Tim glances around the room. Well, the room that he can no longer see. Around him is a vast, empty parking lot. The tar is cracked, red streams flowing through, the sky is a multitude of colors but predominantly a strange reddish pink, the lights are all broken or bent beyond repair. In front of him is a decrepit building. The Gravity Falls mall. 

The sign has been torn off, now laying in front of the cracked glass of the entrance doors. The building has holes, cracks and even a bite mark or two but seems to still be standing. 

In the face of all the destruction, Tim smiles and starts to stand. He makes it to his feet before his ears start ringing, his vision going white for a second. When he comes back to himself, he's sitting back down, Red Robin's hand know his shoulder. 

"Where are we?" Red Robin asks, helping Tim stand up once again. When Tim doesn't fall over again, he looks over the members. "We're in my memories. My memories of the last time Bill managed to get free. You wouldn't listen to my words so now you'll have to listen to this" Tim answers, looking each and every one of them in the eyes. 

Barry seems to be taking in every detail of the landscape, Superman at his side, frowning at Tim. Wonder Woman looks a bit more seriously at the destruction and Cyborg lifts his cannon to scan for threats. The batfamily however, take a mental step back. They weren't taking Tim seriously, they know that. But for Tim to do something like this? It has to be much worse than they expected. 

Overhead, they see a shadow fall over them, moving towards the mall. "An eye-bat. They turn people to stone and take them back to Bill" Tim says, pointing to the pyramid in the middle of the multicoloured sky. Then he starts moving, heading towards the mall entrance. And the league follows, because they don't know what else to do. The landscape seems to shift around them as they walk. Though Barry can almost tell that they aren't moving. Not really. 

They all phase through the door, heading down the hallways until they reach a room full of games. In the room are 5 teenagers. 

"The girl with the red hair is Wendy, she's the daughter of a local lumberjack. The guy to her left with the heart hoodie, is Robbie, her ex-boyfriend and the son of the local morticians. Then there's Josh, he's the son of the Kingstons, pretty average guy though he's always up for a prank" Tim points out each teen as they discuss what to do in the middle of the end of the world. Wendy seems to the the only logical one. 

"And that's you" Constantine says, pointing to a younger Tim Drake at Wendy's side. This Tim seems to be drawing something on the wall he's facing, carving symbols into the plaster. 

"And that's me" Tim confirms before a force caves in the roof. Younger Tim's eyes widen, grabbing Wendy's elbow and jamming his hand down on the symbols. They glow white before younger Tim and Wendy fade from sight. 

A red light streams in from the broken ceiling of the room and the justice league can see Josh slowly turning to stone from his feet and hands. They can see younger Tim's hand for a second, as he reaches for Robbie's leg but Robbie evidently decides to take a chance and run. He turns to stone shortly after, both of them lifted off the ground and carried away in the red light. 

A second later, Tim and Wendy come back into sight, Tim looking pale and shaky while Wendy looks around for more eye-bats. "You did what you could, you know? You didn't have time to help Josh and Robbie ran before you could help him. I know how much something like that drains you and even though you knew it would, you helped me and tried to help Robbie" Wendy says, kneeling by younger Tim's side. 

Younger Tim visibly steels himself with a deep breath before standing "We gotta go. We don't know how long we have before they come back" he says. The league watches in horror as the two teens run out of the mall, stuck to their positions like weights.

The scene around them goes black a second later, before clearing again, revealing a space much like the one they landed in. 

"The first few days went like that. Running, hiding, trying to keep people alive. I lost Wendy somewhere around the school a day later. So I went around the town on my own for a while as everything got worse" Tim explains, gesturing to the area around them . 

The cracks in the pavement still flow red, the sky still multicoloured but around them, the buildings seem more damaged. Fires springing up around them in a seemingly random pattern. 

Looking to the left, they see a giant goat, taking bites out of buildings and trees. To the far front is a waterfall with water red as blood, flowing upward into the clouds. The sky seems heavier somehow, with red spotlights coming into and fading out of sight every few seconds. 

And in the middle of it all, stands younger Tim, panting, his arms scratched, leg bleeding, his eyes resigned. "Hey you!" a voice calls from around a corner and as everyone watches, still in their horror, they can see a giant hand come into view. The hand gropes at the ground, seemingly dragging something behind, shortly after revealed as a head. A giant hand attached to the top of a giant head. And that's it. 

Younger Tim freezes for a second before taking a deep breath, lifting his head to stare at the abomination. "Hey you! I wanna talk! I wanna talk to you!" it calls, as younger Tim takes off running toward a building nearby "I wanna talk to you about getting into my mouth!" It calls as younger Tim moves past it. The creature tries to drag itself in the direction that he runs in but younger Tim vanishes into the building before it can reach him. 

As soon as the league is able to move, they follow Tim into the building, now identified as a bar. Inside, younger Tim grabs a bottle of vodka off the shelf and a shirt laying behind the bar. He takes several deep breaths before cutting into his pants with a pocket knife. The cut fabric then reveals a short but deep wound, no longer bleeding heavily but the blood stained fabric attests to the blood already lost. 

Younger Tim then splashes some vodka over the wound, still breathing deeply before he wraps the wound in the shirt. When the wound is dressed, Tim leans back against the counter and closes his eyes, his breathing slowing as he seemingly falls asleep. 

It isn't long before his sleep is interrupted. By a loud cackle that seems to penetrate every section of your mind. After the cackle, a wave of colour washes over the room, waking Tim, who breathes faster and looks around for a threat. A second later, the counter opens in a toothy maw, attempting to rip younger Tim in half. 

Younger Tim screams, before he removes something from his hip. The gun that he had when he landed in their dimension. The gun goes off but instead of a bullet, a sound leaves the gun, loud and damaging. Much like Black Canary's scream. It gives younger Tim the cover he needs to run from the now carnivorous counter. 

Soon after younger Tim leaves the room, the surroundings go dark. Once again clearing, it all seems different. Still strange but very very different. 

"I managed to find Wendy and Dipper soon after that. Dipper had been unconcious for a while while Wendy had been hiding out. We even found Soos wandering around the wasteland. We found each other and decided to at least attempt a save. Mabel was trapped in a bubble designed by Bill himself. So we went after her. This is what we found in that bubble" Tim explains. 

Around them are very bright streets, teddy bears and animals living in what seems to be a city. A beach not far from the city itself. A giant pig with a saddle on it's back picking up people and taking them somewhere else. The streets seem to be 80's themed. 

"Yo Dudes" a Male voice calls, the group of 3: Wendy, younger Tim and who they assumed to be Dipper turning to face the voice while a get with a cap keeps looking around. Wendy had various scrapes and scratches, a hatchet in her right hand. Dipper had some minor scrapes but seemed more desperate. Tim looked about the same as in the late memory, a shirt tied around his leg. Soos looked the best with no obvious wounds. 

Turning, they see two guys in a open roof car. Both of them seemed fake, like tv characters from a past era. Very sparkly, very colorful and very buff. 

"Uh. Hey. We uh... We're looking for Mabel" Dipper says, still looking around, confused. "Sure dude. We'll take you right to her. She's in her office" the guy says, seeming happy. The group of 4 glance at each other warily before getting in the car. A second later reality seems to flicker around them, revealing the world to be dripping black. The tree with teddy bears now being replaced with mutilated baby dolls. The sky drips blood while the ground splits open in a maw of hell.

Younger Tim's eyes widen in horror. None of the others reacted. 

The view went black as the league watches the car, now made from entrails takes off. 

"Illusion?" Constantine asks, still staring at the dolls hanging from the tree. Tim tears his eyes away from the group vanishing between the buildings to glance at him. "Kind of but mostly not. It's a world completely designed by Bill. It's completely in his sphere of influence. So yes, everything is real but no it actually isn't" Tim answers. 

His eyes linger on the details of the place "Bill designed it to encapsulate everything you want. Mabel wanted a place where she didn't have to grow up. She loves sparkles and glitter and bad 90's cartoons. So she gets that. Wendy wanted her friends back and the world provided that. Soos lost his dad at a young age and when we got here, a facsimile of who his father could have been was here. Dipper and I could see through it though. Dipper kept in mind that this whole place was designed by Bill. I could simply see a layer under this one.

In the end, we had to argue Mabel into coming back and once that happened...well everything fell apart. This layer fell apart, the one beneath revealed to all of us. It was horrifying" Tim explains, gesturing to the buildings of dripping tar, the river of chunky blood, the dolls hanging from the tree in nooses. 

Superman kept his eyes on the ground, not looking at the gore around them but Red Robin took a step forward to place a hand on Tim's shoulder. Tim simply shook his shoulder to dislodge it, before gesturing around them as the world went dark. 

"I think we underestimated this guy. Just maybe" Barry states, still staring at Tim, remembering all the horror and gore even as it slowly faded to black around them. Tim let's out a hysterical chuckle at that "This? This is Bill's influence, yes. But Bill himself? Is so much worse than that" he says. 

The world around them fades back in. The world looks...normal. It looks like the inside of an extravagant home. Until you see the centre of it. There, a group of people congregate by a circle filled with symbols. The symbols have no rhyme, no reason. The only one that anyone recognizes is the Red Robin symbol. 

"We managed to gather the townspeople for a strike against Bill. We infiltrated his...house. We freed the people that were turned to statues. And this? This was our last hope" Tim says, his eyes heavy and focused. 

"The ancient people of Gravity falls had a prophecy. I thought it was just superstition but looking around me now, I see that it wasn't." Ford says, gesturing to the circle at the centre of the room. The surrounding people simply stare at him, not comprehending. 

"Dipper, the pine tree. Mabel, the shooting star." Ford continues to name the people who coincide with the symbols on the floor. Younger Tim steps forward onto the square with the Red Robin symbol, fingers resting on the place where his tattoo resides. 

As each person steps into their space, the energy in the room builds "Join hands everyone" Ford yells, linking hands with the people around him. The circle begins to glow immediately. 

Constantine hums as the glow brightens with each person who joins their hands. Tim smiles at him for a second before answering the unasked question "It's a human energy circle. Each person represents one of the factors that bring down Bill. Calmness in the face of danger. Intellegence. Determination. A willingness to thrive. Even just caring. Each of us had a hand in getting ourselves here. In a way though, we all had a hand in releasing Bill. So we have to put him back" 

During Tim's explanation, they had missed some details of the people they were watching, Stan and Ford had started fighting. Younger Tim steps between them but they simply turn and fight around him. 

A second later, the laugh from the bar echoes around them again. The figure from the picture, the golden pyramid with the hat and bow tie stand in front of the gathered people. 

His single eye narrows before a wash of light blinds everyone and when everything fades back, only Stan, Ford, Dipper, Mabel and younger Tim are left. Bill shows the survivors the tapestries of their friends, frozen in fear and anguish before they float to the top of the wall. 

"I won't let you into my head! I won't let you win!" Ford yells, before Bill creates cages around the 2 groups. One cages the adults, the other the children. "Oh I know you wouldn't let me if you have a choice. But you don't. You care about these 3 kids. So I'll let you choose. The kids die or the kids live" The voice is haunting, echoey and sharp. The pyramid doesn't seem to speak as much as project it's thoughts into the world. 

"Not gonna happen, Bill" Dipper says, gripping a flashlight tightly. Bill turns to him, his eye glowing a bright red "Now listen here, Pine tree" Bill starts before Mabel sprays him in the face with what looks like spray paint. 

"Ow! I just regenerated this eye!" Bill yells, clutching both eyes to the injury. Dipper shines the flashlight on the cage, the cage growing in size until the kids can slip through. 

"I know that hurts. Because I've accidentally done it to myself. Multiple times!" Mabel yells. Then the 3 kids take off, running towards a hallway. Younger Tim is the only one to look back as Bill transforms. The pyramid becomes black, lidded like a rubik's cube. His eye goes red while multiple limbs sprout from the gaps in layers. Even a tongue lolls out of one gap as he states "Excuse me, I have some children to go make into corpses" before taking off after Dipper and Mabel. 

Younger Tim falters in his running before turning back, heading back towards Stan and Ford. He stops in front of their cage, eyeing them as Ford yells after Bill. "We can't beat him. There's no way out of this place. The twins are gonna need help" younger Tim states, eyes focused on Ford. 

All at once, Ford stops, all fight leaving him as he slumps to the floor. 

The scene once again goes black as Wonder woman yells to wait. 

"Give it a second. You'll see some of it now" Tim says as the view clears. Younger Tim is still standing by the cage, his back to the doorway where Dipper and Mabel disappears. 

"Well Well. Never thought you'd make it easy for me, Timmy" Bill taunts as a hand shoots out to grab younger Tim. The league looks up to see all 3 of the kids within Bill's grasp. The twins seem to be struggling but Tim keeps his eyes focused on Ford. 

"I was going to let them live. But now I'll have to kill one of them" Bill states nonchalantly. His eye flicks between the Pine tree symbol, the shooting star symbol and the Red Robin symbol as he counts down. 

"Eeny. Meaney. Miney. YOU" Bill yells, his eye stopping on the Red Robin symbol even as Younger Tim lifts his chin in a challenge. 

"Wait. I'll do it" is all Ford says, seeming resigned. 

The picture once again goes black before the league can see the Watchtower filter in. 

"You underestimated me. You still probably underestimate Bill. But just to tell you, if you continue with that, it'll kill you" Tim says, eyes haunted and heavy. 

Then, seeming drained, Tim turns and walks out of the room, leaving the league and the bats in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've kind of hit a wall. Not entirely sure what to do from here. Maybe leave some suggestions in the comments?


	5. Actions always have consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftereffects of Tim's show

They find Tim in the infirmary half an hour later. None of them have spoken in the meanwhile. None of them are sure what to say. 

They underestimated a threat. They could have put the entire world in jeopardy because they didn't take Tim's warnings seriously. 

And now, since they've seen some of what Tim went through, they know that they never really will know what Bill is capable of. 

Jason was the first to reccomend going after him, saying "We fucked up", earning him a belated and unenthusiastic "Language" from Batman himself. But Jason wasn't done "We should apologize. We forced him to relive his memories. That's pretty bad itself. But we also tried keeping him safe like a civilian. When he's anything but". 

"He is a civilian" Superman objects, eyes wide before Flash lays a hand on his shoulder "No. He isn't. He fell into this universe armed and ready for a fight. He probably got pulled out of a fight before he landed here. And then. He isn't a civilian. Not after what we've seen him do and live throigh" Flash interjects. 

Superman looks almost contemplative at that, Wonder woman at his side, looking thoughtful "He has the heart of a warrior. And the experience of one as well" she says. 

At that, Superman let's out a sigh "Alright. Let's call it to a vote" he says, already resigned. 

"I vote we let him fight. He knows the enemy better than we do and as he said, they beat him before" Barry says. 

"I vote yes. Let him fight. He seems to know what he's doing" Cyborg states. 

"I vote no. He's an unknown in the field and we still don't know much about him" Batman, predictably says. 

"I say yes. And since this fight is in space, in my sector, it really should be the only vote to count" Green Lantern protests. 

"I say we let him fight. He has the soul of a warrior. And that us enough for me" Wonder Woman says once again. 

Superman glances around the room before audibly sighing. "That's 4 to 2. Alright. Tim can fight" he says dejectedly. 

"If ye want him to fight, you need to find him first" Constantine interjects, patting his pockets for a lighter, a cigarette already between his lips. Red hood watches him for a second before handing him a bright red lighter. 

"Thanks" Constantine mumbles around his cigarette as he hands Hood his lighter back. And as Jason nods, he asks "Any idea where he could be?" 

Constantine looks up at the question, seeming to frown at Jason for a second before answering "The kid doesn't have his own source of magic. Not really. The tricks he has are all fueled by his environment and his equipment. That last spell? With the memories? 

He didn't have any equipment. And I've spent a lot of bloody effort wardin this place against magic" That's all Constantine says, leaving the league confused as Jason's eyes widen. 

They all take a step back when Red Hood leaps up and starts running through the halls. And then, unable to do anything else, they follow. Even Constantine walks behind them at a more sedate pace, still smoking his cigarette. 

Eventually, they turn up at the infirmary. They weren't far behind Jason but by the time most of the league are squished into the small space, Jason already has Tim positioned in a bed. 

Tim looks pale, his pupils huge and breath heavy. He winces at every noise and clutches his eyes every time Jason moves. 

Jason seems to know what to do, standing still in front of him while reaching out with his right hand, slowly to point at a cabinet. Within moments, Black Bat is at the cabinet, opening it. 

"Headache tablets should do the trick" Jason says softly, easily audible in the silence of the room. Well silent except for Tim's loud breathing. 

Constantine catches up then, pushing his way though the league and standing at Tim's side. Tim looks up at him, wincing when his glasses flare at the edge of the left lens. 

"Take em off, Tim. Yer gonna make it worse" Constantine says, voice surprisingly quiet as he hands Tim a nearly identical set of glasses. Tim blinks for a second too long to be normal, before taking off his glasses and replacing them with the new pair. 

Shortly after, Black Bat stands in front of Tim, 2 tablets in her outstretched hand. Again, Tim takes a few seconds to respond before accepting the pills with a small "Thanks" and then swallows the tablets dry. 

Jason then reappears at Tim's shoulder to shove at him. He keeps shoving until Tim is horizontal, laying on the bed with his feet still somehow on the ground. Then Jason sighs as he lifts Tim' feet onto the bed as well, while Black Bat covers Tim with a thin blanket. 

Soon after, Tim seems to go from awake to completely unconcious, not even reacting when Jason "accidentally" shoves Constantine into one of the medical trays. "Ass. Why didn't you warn us earlier?" Jason asks. 

"Hm. Not my problem. I like the little bugger but that doesn't mean anythin for any of you" Constantine says, his hand leaning against the tray. You couldn't tell with the hood on, but everyone in that room was aware that Jason is glaring at Constantine. 

"Hold up" Red Robin interrupts, as Hood opens up his mouth to argue "What even is going on?" he asks. "Yeah. You gave us no true answer as to what happened or why Drake would be here" Robin asserted. 

"As I said. The kid doesn't have his own power source. But he had nothing to draw power from this time, meaning that he had to draw from reserves that he doesn't have. That, in short terms, is not only dangerous but it can also cause pain. Looks to me that Tim gets the aftereffects in the form of migraines" Constantine answers, his voice echoing in the silent room. 

"We should leave him to rest. Probably would be best if we left him overnight too" Red Robin says, looking sympathetically at his alternate. At that, he, Spoiler, Black Bat and Red hood turn to leave the room. 

"And you all should apologize to him tomorrow" Constantine finishes, stomping out the end of his cigarette with his foot before leaving as well. 

The rest of the bats stare at Tim, lying down on a medical cot, still flinching at noises and turning his head away from any light. Batman's Cape swishes behind him as he leaves, Robin following in his wake. 

The rest of the league follows shortly after. They aren't exactly sure what the whole thing is about, only flash having enough knowledge about magic to understand Constantine's statement. The rest of the league assume that Tim overreached and got a migraine from it. 

They decide to leave him be until tomorrow. 

xxxxxx

As Tim's eyes open, he can feel some residual fatigue lingering in his muscles, discouraging him from moving. His head, however, takes in all his eyes can see. 

A metal roof, some beds placed around what looks to be a hospital room. Nothing he recognizes. And that sets alarm bells ringing. 

In a second, he's sitting up. The motion disturbs his head and he forces down a groan, settling a hand to the bed to push himself up. The fatigue hinders him, yes but it will never stop him. Especially when he's panicking. 

So Tim looks around, feeling at his sides for weapons. He finds his weapons strapped down as they should be, which explains the growing bruises. He also grabs a scalpel from a tray nearby, nestling it in his hand. 

His mind is fuzzy, Tim notes with concern. His limbs heavy, his eyes holding a faint sting while his head remains clouded. Those symptoms are never good. So Tim ventures out. 

He keeps his back to the wall, eyes flickering over every shadow, corner and doorway. It wouldn't be the first time Tim ended up in an unknown place, probably an unknown time as well. But last time did not end well. 

Tim tilts his head to the left, registering noises, voices from an area in that direction. Taking a deep breath, he clamps the scalpels blade between his fingers and walks in that direction, taking care to keep his footsteps quiet. 

The voices grow louder, the closer he gets and for some reason, they seem familiar.

When Tim appears in the doorway of the next room, he can see people. At least 12 bodies crammed into a room filled with couches. The people, however are relaxed. Most are facing away from the doorways, some slouched over in couches and others just blatantly not paying attention. 

And as Tim's headache starts to build once again, his eyes catch sight of his symbol, right in the middle of someone else's chest. His mind stirs with a memory. Red robin. Red Hood. Constantine. 

The spell he did yesterday, he remembers with a wince. And with that memory, he slips the scalpel from his fingers and place it on a counter next to him. 

The bats had already seen him, of course. Red Robin overtly watching him with a brow raised. Red Hood is the first to stand and approach him. 

"Hey kid. How you doing?" Hood asks, now wearing a domino instead of his hood. Tim blinks at the white stripe in Hood's hair before thinking to answer the question. 

"I'm doing better. Minor headache" Tim mumbles, already reaching for the coffee part near his counterpart. His hand is intercepted by Spoiler. And that just won't do. 

As Tim's eyes narrow, he shifts his hand to strip spoiler's wrist, banging it into the table. He then reaches into the pocket in his wrist and slaps the sticky gooey material over Spoiler's wrist. She won't be getting free anytime soon. 

Which leaves Tim free to snatch the coffee pot. Yay! 

The coffee has apparently been standing around for a while, since it doesn't scald Tim's tongue, even as he downs half of what is left in the pot. He can feel stares on him, some incredulous, others worried and shocked. One particularly judgemental stare has him raising a middle finger in their direction. 

The sound of a laugh bounce around his head. His coffee craving now sated, he falls down next to Red, his counterpart. Relinquishing the coffee pot to him for his own needs, Tim waits for the caffeine to kick in. 

He hasn't waited nearly long enough before a rough, british voice calls out to him. "Ye know the coffee'll only make yer headache worse, right?" Constantine asks, attempting to look Tim in the eye. Tim does not want to look him in the eye. 

"If you want to part me from my life force, you'll have to fight me for it" Tim says, eyes lingering on Constantine's just long enough to make his point. He can see Nightwing shuffling on the side, obviously waiting to interrupt. Maybe to lecture Tim on his coffee consumption. 

Both Tims turn to glare at him for a second before Red takes a large sip to spite him. The laugh from Red Hood seems worth it, as he clutches his stomach and folds over his knees. 

Glancing to the side, Tim can see Red blushing at the sound. Ooh. His lips spread into a smirk, eyes still locked on Red. Red somehow feels the stare, turning to look directly at Tim. 

His eyes widen, seeing Tim's expression of glee and knowing that he won't escape. Especially not from himself. 

The staring competition between Tim and Red is interrupted by a fake cough, both of them turning to stare at Orphan. Her mask had been removed sometime in the last few minutes, leaving her smile free for them to see. 

"Pain. Check wound. I get medicine" she says, her hands moving in front of her to sign the words as well. Tim takes the opportunity to remove himself from the centre of attention, grabbing a first aid kit from under the couch. 

Tim makes sure to whisper "This discussion isn't over" at him just to make a point. 

Then, the bandages around his middle are undone, revealing the long scratch on his side. It was healing, scabbed over and no signs of infection. So Orphan must have intervened on Red's behalf. How cute. 

When Tim pressed an antiseptic wipe against the wound a second later, Tim changes his mind "You're all sadists" He declares, fighting against the sting at his side. 

Nightwing intervenes to hold Tim still, like the traitor that he is, while Hood starts laughing all over again. Eventually, Tim is held down by Nightwing, Spoiler and Hood as Red pressed against his wound and wraps it again. 

"You've all made an enemy, today. I hope you know to sleep with one eye open" Tim threatens. Red must be much the same in revenge schemes, since Spoiler and Nightwing pale rapidly. 

Hood doesn't seem bothered, still laughing at Tim's misfortune.He would have to be punished for that. Glancing at Tim, he smirks. Punished, both of them. 

Constantine intervenes before Tim can launch himself at Spoiler, physically stepping between her and Tim. "Revenge later. You all owe Tim something" Constantine says, glaring at the room's occupants. 

"He's right" Red says, stilling next to Tim on the couch. "We are tremendously apologetic" Wonder Woman continues. "We should have listened when you warned us, instead of just assuming" Flash says, his eyes clear sincere. 

Tim blinks at them all before smiling "Yeah. You should have listened. But anyway. Apology accepted" he says.


	6. The unicorn spell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim decides to protect this universe, even though he doesn't quite understand it.

"We need a plan" Tim says, looking directly at Green Lantern and then glancing at Constantine. 

He can feel the attention in the room shift to him with that simple statement. Hood and Orphan turning to face him from where the Bats had huddled together before. 

"You know the enemy better. What do you suggest?" Superman asks, his eyes wide and sincere. Ah. They finally accepted, Tim thinks. He can feel the stares of the entire room focused on him. 

It makes his skin crawl in anxiety. 

Focusing, Tim relaxes his fists and slows his breathing. He's not used to having this much focus on him. It's always been on his parents, then on the Northwests and eventually on the Pines family. He went through a great deal to keep the attention off of him. 

But Tim straightens his shoulders, reminding himself to breathe. 

"We can't rely on the twins. They were in the middle of one of their legendary spats when I ended up here. It'll take them a bit to realise that I'm not with the other" Tim explains. Plus, I dropped my phone somewhere during the fight, he remembers. 

"What we can do is create safe zones around the planet. There's a spell that protects an enclosed space from Bill's influence as well as Bill himself. I can do that, someone should probably help me pick out the spots though". With that, Red raises his hand, volunteering to help Tim with the spacing logistics. 

"What do ye need for the spell?" Constantine asks, hands in his pockets but eyes focused on Tim. "Unicorn hair should be the only thing, I think" Tim says, trying to think back to Ford's spell that he set around the shack. 

He doesn't see the others freeze and look around, none of them willing to say what they had to. "Unicorns don't exist here, mate" Constantine says, blunt as always but his voice carries the undercurrent of worry. 

That makes Tim stop. Breathing through his momentary panic, he thinks. Empties his pockets onto the table in front of him. 

On the table, a variety of magical ingredients and objects now lie. Not as many as he would like, unfortunately. A resizing crystal, a vial of pixie dust, a ball filled with alien adhesive and a pouch of unicorn hair. 

Signing, Tim opens the pouch. It's full, at least. "Alright. I should have enough unicorn hair to protect this place and maybe 2 safe spaces per country" Tim says, eyes glazing over. This place doesn't have the Gravity falls weirdness magnetism rule. This, anything they do, could result in hundreds of casualties. Hundreds of ruined lives. 

"2 safe spaces aren't going to be enough in certain places. North America is huge. so is Russia. And what about the rural areas?" It's Flash that brings up this point, sounding mildly distressed. Tim's eyes dim, drawing his lip into mis teeth to chew on it. "I know. Trust me, I know" he says, voice reluctant. 

"What if we duplicate the hair? Clone it?" Superman asks. Tim tilts his head slightly as he thinks. "We could try cloning one hair and see if it still has magical properties. If it doesn't, then we'll just have to work around it" he decides. 

With that, Red stretches out a hand for a strand of unicorn hair. He is after all, the only one who has some experience with cloning. Especially non human cloning. So Tim hands over a single strand, being careful not to drop it. 

Red whisks the hair away to another room and leaves the room in silence while Tim thinks. Not nearly enough unicorn hair to set up enough safe spaces. And no idea if any of the spells here will work on him. 

"Are there any spells you can think of that could keep him out? Wards or anything like that?" Tim asks. He directs his question to the room but only Constantine answers "Well. He's powerful. Strong, like nothing else. But he does remind me of Klarion". 

"Klarion?" Tim asks, frowning is askance. "Klarion the witch boy. Child magic practitioner. Somewhat powerful but uh...extremely chaotic" Hood explains, the smile on his face contradicting the tone. Tim stares at him for a second before deciding to ignore him. 

"So what you're proposing is, spells that work on Klarion should work on Bill. Alright. Why not give it a try? Could you set up some wards and spells that keep Klarion out?" Tim asks Constantine, who smirks. "I can do ye one better. I can get some magic practitioners who could help too" Constantine says, followed by Red's "I could probably get someone as well". 

Everyone turns to face him right before Red stretches out a hand, 2 identical strands of hair in his palm. So he did manage it. Fantastic. 

Tim reaches out a hand to take the two, reaching deep into his mind for the bit of influence. The bit left over. And when he opens his eyes, only one of the strands is glowing. 

Tim deflates, his lip drawn between his teeth as he says "It doesn't work. Only one of these strands has the magic needed to work it. We- We'll have to make due with what we have". At that, he places the hair, still slightly glowing into the pouch. 

The strand's glow spreads to the others giving the illusion of a flowing spiderweb. And Tim stares at it, thinking. 

A few extra magic practitioners, a few extra spells. But no prophecy. No Pines family. No mind gun. 

xxxxxx

Right after the discussion about the unicorn hair, Constantine leaves to go contact his chosen magic practitioners. Red follows shortly after to contact his friend. 

The rest of the league scatter around, mostly just watching Tim as he thinks and prepares. And when Tim finally stands up, grabbing a strand of unicorn hair, everyone startles at the sudden movement. 

"Hood. I'm gonna need your help" Tim says, looking around the room. The line of inscriptions would have to flow around the outside of the building or it could be inscribed onto the inside. Outside would be easier but seeing as they're in space, Tim would manage with the inside. 

Thinking, Tim looks up at the ceiling, down to the floor and then follows the lines of the walls with his eyes. The line needs to be unbroken, so as to keep the integrity. It's possible to bridge a gap with a wall but if someone wipes the symbols off while cleaning, the whole spell would fall apart. 

"im. Tim. Tim!" 

"What?" Tim snaps, still looking around for a place to put the symbols. He can hear Hood hive a large sigh before he says "I asked what you need my help for". At that, Tim blinks slowly "I need the influence attacked to your soul, dimwit. It has a magic influence that I can use to fuel the spell" he explains. 

The room goes inexplicably quiet at that, Hood frozen by his side. Tim can see the slight reflection of a bright green light coming from the direction of Hood's mask and eyes. And when Tim flicks his fingers a few times, the green light seems to fade from the reflection, Tim's fingertips now covered in a watery green glow. 

"You could say no. I could probably find another magic source or ask Constantine to break the wards for a bit-" Tim starts before Hood interrupts him "No. Please. Please take it" he says, basically begs. Tim's body doesn't give him a choice, then. He turns to frown at Hood, who's face is pleading. 

"Please. The lazarus pit's influence is still there. Maybe using the magic will clear it" Hood says, his voice full of hope. The other Bats don't visibly react, except for Nightwing's wide, happy smile. Hood must be one of the most expressive, then. 

Now who is Tim to deny a heartfelt plea like that? "Just one question" Hood says, sounding more hesitant. Tim nods for him to ask "Is. Is that all? That's magic or has magical influence or whatever?" Hood asks. 

Tim blinks before forcing his eyes to focus. He reaches to the side, grabbing his engraved glasses from the table. Looking through the glasses, Tim looks past the green glow clouding Hood's head and chest. And...there. 

At his hands, there's a different type of glow. Red like blood but solid. Now that he looks for it, Tim can see the red shading around his eyes and some other parts of his body too. 

"No. There's something else too. I can't identify it though" Tim eventually says, the glow from his glasses dying down slowly. He hopes that that was the right answer, the answer that Hood was looking for. 

Hood looks contemplative for a moment before speaking "I trained with the All caste for a while. They're a people of magic and protection. They fight evil. AndI even earned a weapon from them. But. I can only summon the weapon in the presence of true evil" he explains. 

Tim's eyes brighten, his mind sharpening with curiosity, "True evil, huh?" he muses. Reaching back into himself, he pokes at the bit of influence left from the most purely evil thing Tim can think of. Bill. 

"Try it" Tim reccomends, his eyes closed and hands held steady in front of him. He can hear Hood grumble that it has to be true evil to be able to....

When Hood trails off, Tim opens his eyes. In Hood's hands are now 2 swords. Glowing bright red, seemingly stained with blood. "Oh wow" Tim breathes, shifting to get a better look. 

Unfortunately, that draws the attention of the room. Tim and Constantine had returned sometime and now their eyes flick to see Tim's. But they don't look like Tim's. His eyes have a faded yellow shading where the white should be, his pupil slitted vertically like a cat's. 

Tim blinks to dispel the influence, as everyone takes a breath. And when his eyes go back to normal, the all blades disappear from Hood's hands. 

Constantine faces Tim, and he prepares himself for questions. 

"True evil?"

"Bill"

"Why are you able to mimic Bill?"

"He possessed me for a bit. Most possessions leave a bit of the entity behind. I can draw from it if I need to" Tim explains. His eyes drop to stare at the ground, feeling almost ashamed of using the influence, now. 

"He possessed you?" Red asks, his expression screwed up in distaste but layered under that is horror. "Don't worry about it. He can only possess you if you make a deal with him" Tim explains, trying to set his counterpart at ease. 

It appears to do the opposite "You made a deal?" Constantine asks, as the rest of the room erupts in horrified screeches. "It's...a long story. We need to get this spell up before anything else" Tim attempts to divert. 

"We will be speaking about this tonight" Batman says, voice gruff with underlining worry. The league think it's since Tim could be a threat but the bats? The bats know it's for Tim. 

"Are your contacts here?" Tim asks, instead of arguing. In response, a woman in a suit and a man in a suit and top hat step out of the doorway. They are shortly followed by a girl in a purple cloak. 

Tim would usually take his time to scan all of them but his eyes had stopped on the girl's forehead. Between her eyes sat a red crystal, glowing slightly under the light. But for Tim, through his glasses, he could see a glow, fire spreading from the crystal. Within, he could see a figure, bound and captured. 

A hit to his shoulder brings him back to the present, his instincts kicking in before his rational thought does. He turns to the direction of his attacker, grabs the hand and makes to snap the bone before he falters. 

The person isn't struggling. Tim blinks again before letting go of the hand. The room slowly comes into focus, his glasses still blinding him with the aftereffects of the crystal. 

When he sees Robin's arm in his hand, his nose screws up before he releases. "I apologize. Your crystal merely...distracted me" Tim says to the girl. "I apologize as well. I was not aware that you could see within the crystal. My name is Raven" the girl says. 

Tim turns to the others to scan them, seeing that they are natural born magic users "I am Zatara and this is my daughter Zatanna" the man introduces. Tim gives them a wan smile before turning back to the task at hand. 

His fists had clenched during the confrontation but the unicorn hair doesn't seem damaged. 

"Alright then. I need a place to put the symbols. They need to go around the entire building and they shouldn't be disturbed" Tim says, twisting the unicorn hair between his fingers. With his other hand, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a marker. 

"Ceiling would probably be the best option" Wonder Woman says, pointing upward. And Tim can't help himself "If you hadn't noticed, I would need a massive ladder just to reach the ceiling, let alone actually move it around" he says, eyes lighting up in mirth. 

When everyone stares at him incredulously, he frowns again. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asks, to which some laughs start from the group. 

In seconds, Tim is yelping as he's lifted off the ground. Under him is a platform, a glowing green, seemingly solid platform. And next to him, floating freely is Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg. 

"I'm...Wait. Sorry. You can fly?" Tim demands. They can fly. Of course they can fly, Tim grumbles as the laughter echoes from below. It gets even worse when Zatanna, Zatara, Raven and Constantine float up to take a closer look at the spell Tim does. 

"Alright. Alright. I need Hood up here as well" Tim says, deciding to leave the flying thing alone. For now. Immediately, Hood is deposited next to Tim on the platform and Tim's eye twitches at the use of another...superpower? 

Then, Tim touches the unicorn hair to the ceiling, using a slight bit of heavily diluted alien adhesive to adhere it to the metal. "The unicorn hair needs to be attached to the structure you're trying to protect. Glue works well" he explains. 

Opening the cap of the marker, Tim starts working on a line of symbols on one end of the hair "The symbols need to be drawn right around the building. It's a repetition of 8 symbols, they look like this" he says, finishing the last symbol of the first set of 8. At his side, everyone could see the green draining from Hood's eyes, fading the teal back to blue. And Jason. Jason could feel some of the whispers leave, as Tim drew. 

Constantine immediately takes a picture while Raven draws them on a piece of paper, Zatanna and Zatara committing them to memory. And then Tim continues. 

They drift along the wall, drawing symbol after symbol after symbol, only resting a bit when there's a wall. Tim draws a bridging symbol and they walk around to the next rune to continue. 

Halfway through, Constantine says he's get it and grabs some unicorn hair to do the locations Red has picked out. Zatara and Zatanna stay a bit longer but soon move on as well. 

Raven is the only one to stay until Tim is finished with the building. She's the only one to see the circle meet it's completion. The white glow lighting up all of the symbols, a faint green sheen lighting them up from within. And then, she sees the shield. Glowing faintly white with 8 symbols, extending outside the watchtower and circling it completely. 

Only then, does she leave to complete her own locations. 

By the end, Tim is drained, a slight headache pounding at the back of his skull. And Jason seems happier than he's been since the day he died. "Not all of it is gone. But it's...much more manageable" He explains to Tim, giving him a sincere smile. 

"Thanks for the help. I'm gonna go lay down" Tim says as Green lantern lowers him and Hood to the ground. The league immediately starts to turn to him in worry "Why? I thought you said that you'd be fine of you used Hood as a power source" Cyborg inquires. 

"Oh it's not that. Magically, I am fine. But looking up and straining myself to draw above my head? Ouch" Tim explains, rubbing his neck to try and relieve some tension. Staring upwards and lifting his hands above his head for hours was not kind to his neck or shoulders. 

"Alright, then sit" Batman says, as Orphan wraps her hands around Tim's shoulders and forces him down onto the couch. When down, Tim is immediately swarmed by Nightwing, Hood and Spoiler. They crowd around him and Spoiler even lays across his lap, just so that he can't move. 

Tim sighs, turning to focus his attention on Red. Batman's brooding and looming behind him seems to intensify before Tim starts speaking. "Are the magic people done yet?" he asks. 

Red glances between Tim and Batman for a second before facing Tim completely. The snickers from the bats, as well as the gaping from the league spurring them on. After all, no-one ignores Batman. Well no-one but Tim. And now there are 2 of them. 

"Constantine finished up hours ago. He went back to the house for 'a celebratory, possibly end of the world drink' and he told me to tell you that he took one hair to ward the house as well" Red reports, Tim nodding along to show that he understood. 

"Zatara and Zatanna are finished. They went home shortly after. Raven just finished upa bit ago. She said that she'd be returning here. She wanted to speak to you" Tim tilts his head at that. Why would raven want to speak to him? 

Behind Tim, Batman clears his throat, now looking over Tim's shoulder. Wanting to continue their little game, Tim ignores him but Red shakes his head, facing Batman once again as Raven appears in the room. 

Well. Story time then.


	7. Deals and demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, unfortunately. But uh. I'll give you some time to work through it.

"Just to clarify. This happened when I was young and stupid" Tim starts, ignoring Orphan's raised brow and Hood's comment of "You're still young and stupid". He does take revenge on Hood by pulling Red to sit in the teeny tiny space next to him though. 

The blushes on both of their faces, even as they refuse to move or look at each other was worth it. 

"As I was saying. Young and stupid" Tim continues, meeting each person's eyes as he looks around. Seeing Superman, Wonder Woman, Green lantern, Flash and Cyborg sitting on the ground with crossed legs, he withholds a smile. The bats had elected to keep him pinned, with Nightwing to Tim's left, Orphan crouched on the arm of the couch. To Tim's right, Red and Hood squished between him and the arm of the chair. Spoiler sitting on that armrest. 

Batman had elected to stand and Robin leaning against the wall. Raven was the only one who dragged a chair into the room to sit on. 

"I assume that most people in this room know at least about my parents, Jack and Janet Drake of Drake Industries" Tim continues, waiting for everyone to nod before explaining further. "It all starts with them and a gala. My parents were hoping to land a business deal during this gala. They took me along for sympathy points. But the person they were hoping to make a deal with was a mob boss. Not overtly but everyone knew it. Especially me." 

"So I threw a fit. I was rude and uncooperative. Bringing up his nightly dealings very loudly very often. It sent the deal south, DI had no chance for a deal after I was done" Red visibly cringes at that flinching back into Hood's chest, whispering "That would not have gone well". 

Tim lets his derision show in his smile as he says "No. It did not go well. That night was one of the biggest fights I've seen in my life. But I was also persistent. I knew that what I'd done was right. So I fought them on it

Do you remember the Northwests?" Tim asks as he turns to face Tim, who blinks at the abrupt change in topic and tone. "Kinda. We saw each other for some family meetings and such but we never really knew each other" is all Tim says back. 

"Well Mr. Northwest has a method of keeping kids under control. Classical conditioning at it's finest" Tim says, the smile on his face bitter. This causes Batman's eyes to narrow, Jason growling in anger, though his eyes remain blue. 

"He'd ring a bell. Pacifica, our cousin is probably the best example. When a bell rings, she stops protesting anything. Anything at all. It makes her completely complacent. So my parents sent me to them for the same treatment. They wanted an obedient heir" Tim continues. The league can see his eyes going hard, fists clenching in anger as he speaks. 

They understand his anger though. Conditioning a child to be complacent every time a bell rings, absolutely abhorrent. 

Red reaches a hand out to pat Tim on the shoulder closest to him, as Hood leans into him subtly. 

Tim continues the story with Hood leaning on his side "The one thing they didn't take into aaccount though, was that I wasn't a child. And I wasn't their child. They had nothing to build on. So instead of conditioning me to be obedient, it just drew on my anger. 

By the time Bill found me, it was ingrained. Still is, actually. 

So when Bill started showing up in my dreams, I didn't exactly notice that there was a bell ringing in the background. Not until I looked back, years later. 

The visits started simple. Bill introduced himself and I was convinced that it was simply dreams. He started affecting the normal word, just slightly to prove me wrong. 

One day, I complained about my parents and he offered me a deal. Freedom from my parents and in exchange, he wanted a favor" The laugh falling from Tim's lips exaggerates the horror on the faces of those who know anything about demons, entities or just business. 

"A favor. Just one. And in exchange, I would get my freedom. So I accepted. I never could have seen the follow up coming. Never" Tim says, his hands drawing his legs closer to hug them. Like this, he looks like a child, not someone capable of fighting. 

"He possessed me. Took over my body

And next thing I know, I'm back in Gotham but I'm not in control of my actions. I watch my body set up a tripwire across a road. I watch my body send a text to my parents and then...I watch them crash. 

It was clean. Simple. After all, I had an alibi since I wasn't even in the state. The police ruled it an accident and it was dropped. Then somehow, Bill got me emancipated and left my body" Tim concludes. 

The league watches, frozen in their horror, as Tim slows his breathing from where it had picked up. Who? Who would use a child to kill their own parents? That thought was on everyone's minds. 

Red shifts in Tim's peripheral, allowing Hood to hug Tim. "They deserved it, you know. I think you agree. But it's fucked up that he used your body to do it. And made you watch" Hood states, keeping the league at bay. 

"I know. I do. But I've gotten over that years ago" Tim lies, his eyes downcast and his hands clenched. Hood looks at Nightwing for backup before Nightwing grabs Tim in a hug, along with Red and Hood. 

And all Tim can think, is that he regrets ever meeting Bill.


	8. Introductions (This is all out of order)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the story, everyone computes and Tim gets an offer. Also, Tim finally gets names to go with the Bats' faces.

The story has ended but no-one moves. Bill had used Tim's body to murder his parents. What do you even say to that? "Well..uhm. Good night" Tim says, visually uncomfortable as he shifts on his feet. 

Before anyone can formulate their response, Tim chooses a doorway and vanishes through it. Of course, no-one has shown him around the watchtower "He's going to get lost" Hood says as he stands, dragging Red up with him "We'll show him around or something". 

And with that, both of them are gone as well. Most of the league stays in the room, with Bats only drawing up the camera feeds to keep en eye on them. Superman is the first to break the silence "We need a plan. But. We also need to sleep. Go home everyone, we will reconvene tomorrow" he says and everyone complies easily. 

They're all tired and they all need to compute. Going home is the best option. The only sticking point: Where will Tim go? He doesn't have a city or a house, let alone a home. And none of them think that Tim should be alone right now. 

They all glance at one-another, not wanting to verbally ask "We shall retrieve the second Drake. He shall be accompanying us to the manor" Robin interrupts, seemingly not even noticing the glances they shared. Everyone blinks for a moment before Batman nods once, the rest of the batfamily gathering everything they need before they walk out of the room. 

It takes seconds for Spoiler to break the dramatic exit they made "Aw. Kiddo. I knew you cared". Robin's only response is to slash at her with a batarang, which Orphan grabs out of his hand with a hum. Weaponless, he then turns to Spoiler, metaphorical hackles raised "I do not care for either of the Drakes. In fact, I find both of them abhorrent. However, that does not mean that the second Drake should be left to wreak havoc upon the watchtower". 

His family however, give him looks and smiles and smirks, implying that he is not truthful. So he turns and stalks away, presumably looking for Hood, Red and Tim. Leaving his family in his wake to whisper and giggle. 

Damian eventually finds himself in the same room as Tim, Hood and Red "There you are Drake. Todd. Second Drake" he says in greeting. 

Tim stops mid-explaination to stare at him "Second Drake?" he asks, sounding resigned but curious. Robin regards him for a moment before answering "Naturally. This Drake is native to our universe. It would not be partial to refer to him as Second Drake". 

Tim's expression clouds, still staring at Damian "Why does he have the vocabulary of a 18th century royal?" he asks eventually, aiming the question at Red. Of course, that's when the rest of the batfamily walks in. 

Spoiler can't contain her laugh, joining Hood and Red when she sees Tim's expression. Orphan gives a small smile to Tim and brings up her hand to cover the small laugh that escapes her. Nightwing doesn't bother and simply slaps Robin on the back with a laugh. Batman, however is the one who answers. 

"He was raised by a man that has lived through the last few centuries. We estimate him to be close to a millenia old. Damian grew up around him and his language, thus adopting his way of speaking" The explanation flows off his tongue like honey, disguising the stinger hidden among. 

"So Robin's name is Damian? I'm really hoping you did that on purpose too" Tim comments, moving to face Batman. Damian glares at Batman for the reveal but does not fight. After all if Tim is to stay with them, he will find out either way, Damian thinks. 

Batman stares at Tim with his eyes boring through him before giving a single nod. Throughout the glare, Tim does not budge, simply staring right back at him. At the nod, Tim smiles "Let me guess. You were going to introduce yourselves anyway and just decided to be dramatic". 

Hood let's out another laugh before he removes his hood, leaving his face bare to Tim's inspection "Jason. Pleasure ta meet ya, kid". Tim's eye twitches at the name 'kid' but does not comment, rather turning to Red in expectance. 

Red removes his cowl and smiles "Obviously, you know who I am. Tim Drake but I guess that you're been referring to me as something else". The statement makes Tim smile cryptically "I call you Red. I also called the rest of you by your codenames till now. But yeah, when I say Red, I mean you. And I guess that you have your own thing for me?". 

Red smirks at him "I call you Timmy in my head", which makes Tim draw back his face in disgust "No. Absolutely not. Call me Tim or Timothy or something else". Red continues to look at him before nodding in agreement. 

Robin is next, as he removes his domino "Damian al Ghul- Wayne. You shall learn to fear me". Tim's lips twitch upward in response to Damian's seriousness, even as he tries to tamp down on it. He quickly looks away before Damian notices to look at Spoiler. 

She looks him in the eye to tell him that she knows what he did before speaking "Stephanue Brown. Please don't tell me that you think I'm hot cause it doesn't work out". Tim's brain freezes at the bluntness before he smiles, letting a coughing laugh slide past his lips "Hm. No. I don't think so. Very pretty but you're not my type". 

Orphan interrupts before Steph can interrogate him on what that means "Cassandra Wayne" she says, English still stilted as she speaks. Her hands move along with the words, signing the ASL for her name. At that, Tim cannot help but smile, signing back with a wave and the sign for his name. He swears that he can see her lips tip up into a smile at that. 

"Cass is mostly nonverbal. She only speaks when she has to and doesn't really use sign language either. She reads body language as an actual language and uses that to communicate" Nightwing explains as he pulls off his mask. Seeing him, Tim has to turn and glance at the rest. "Dick Grayso-" "Do you all look the same?" Tim interrupts, looking significantly at the black hair and blue eyes of the surrounding people, even their physiques didn't differ a that much. 

Dick's eyes widen before he whirls on Batman, exclaiming "Yeah B! I told you!" while Hood chimes in with "You have a problem". The other chime in with their agreements, nodding along. Not having expected that outcome, Tim moves on quickly "So you're Dick Grayson. Nice to meet you". 

Dick nods, stepping away from Batman to leave him in Tim's sightline. Reaching slowly over his head, Batman pulls down the cowl, revealing "Bruce Wayne?" Tim asks, eyes wide. 

Bruce freezes, now staring at Tim with curious eyes "You know me?" he asks, taking in Tim's suddenly straight posture and his wide eyes. "Uhm. Yeah. I used to see you a lot with the galas and stuff when I still lived with my parents" Tim answers, relaxing his shoulders by force. 

Bruce makes a decision to rather not question him at the moment, moving on to the actual reason that they're there. He softens his expressions, giving Tim a smile as he speaks "We would like you to join us for the night. We will reconvene tomorrow to figure out a plan of attack". 

The reaction that Tim has is strange, screwing up his face in thought in a way that Red only does for a case. It even sounds contemplative when he speaks "I mean...Why not?". 

Hood and Red fistbump off to the side, celebrating their 'win', Spoiler joining in and dragging Cass with her. 

They all leave, leading Tim toward the zeta tubes and soon, they all vanish in a flash of light.


	9. The plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim makes a plan. The league hates it. And Tim asks a favor from Constantine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to encourage self-sacrifice. But in this instance, Tim as a fully functioning, mentally sane and healthy person is making a decision that could endanger his life.

The next day, the Bats flash into the watchtower with Tim in tow. 

Tim had finally gotten changed into other clothes, as Alfred had basically demanded and was not dressed in clothes from Red. Not bad, Tim thinks but not my style. Looking down at the button up and the jeans, his head aches at the thought of how much his outfit costs. And how little it hides. 

That becomes prominent as Cyborg immediately focuses in on the sonic pistol visibly printing at his side. There was no hiding anything in this outfit. Especially not a gun. 

"im. Tim" a voice calls, Tim refocusing to see Green lantern waving a hand in front of his face, a smirk on his lips. It makes Tim's lips want to curl back in a snarl. 

It must be visible since Green Lantern immediately draws back to hold his hands up. Supposedly complacent if it weren't for the look on his face. Looking at him, Tim can imagine his knuckle dusters smashing into those teeth. 

Not wanting the league to see his fantasies come to fruition, he turns to Superman "Yes?" he asks. Superman smiles at him, gesturing to the table in the centre of the room "This is the war room. This table can simulate any number of things. We use it for battle plans" he explains. 

Before he knows what's happening, Tim moves to take in the table. It's a table, metal and square. A bit plain. 

He glances at Red with a frown, mentally asking, how does this work? Red understands, moving forward as he speaks "Computer, display sector 24-1". Immediately, a display manifests above the table. Stars, moons and planets hovering above the shiny surface. 

Tim hums as his head involuntarily tilts to the right. Taking in the display, he moves his hand across it, using gestures to experiment with what gesture does what. Red steps in a few times to give him the command prompt like dragging 2 fingers across the display to zoom in and display information. 

Tim eventually stops playing with the machine, turning to Green Lantern to ask "Where was that picture taken?". Hal tenses up minutely before saying "I don't know. No-one does, really. The lantern that got the picture died and the image was only captured by the ring moments before it found a new user". 

Eyes flicking, Tim begins to pace. Deep breaths, even and strong as he moves in circles. "Alright. So we don't know where he is. But. We do know where he can be" Tim eventually says, moving to manipulate the display. 

The display changes and flickers before settling on Earth. Well the solar system, at least. "Bill hates me. Hates my guts with a burning passion. If anyone can lure him here, it would be me" Tim muses, speaking more to himself than anyone else. 

"How?" Constantine asks, the rest of the league still computing, the Bats ready to veto this self-sacrificing bullshit. Tim seems to sense the brewing tension, quickly speaking to placate "I can use a spell to draw him here, then we can evacuate the people to safe areas. Besides, I'm not helpless". 

Constantine seems to be the only one that takes it all in and agrees, seeming very cavalier. Superman and Wonder Woman stop to take the civilians into account while some of the others looked swayed. 

"Yeah. No. You are not gonna play bait" Hood says, voice growling as he speaks. "I'm not gonna be bait!" Tim objects, drawing attention back to him "I'm the only one that he'd look at and decide not to incinerate on sight. Everyone else would die immediately. Plus, none of you would know how to lure him here". 

"Cyborg. What are the chances of civilian deaths if Bill comes here on his own vs when we draw him here?" Tim's voice is demanding, making a point. 

Cyborg hesitates, looking pensive before he speaks "The civilian casualties predicted with Bill when he arrives on his own would be immense. If we have the foresight and time to evacuate them, that number would dwindle drastically". He seems reluctant, even as he says it but the league can see the determination in his eyes. 

Were the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people, not worth allowing one person, a person who is actively stepping up and stepping forward, to do something to help? Even if it did put him in danger? 

Stilling, Tim looks them all in the eyes before saying "We give notice for evacuation a day before. I perform the spell, which should lure Bill very quickly. The magic users, the justice league and I fight Bill". And that's that. 

Because no-one can stop him. No-one can tell him no. This is his choice, after all. 

"How do we know that Bill will take the bait?" Batman asks, pragmatic as ever. Tim gives him a wan smile before answering "I helped beat him last time. Plus" he hesitates, hand reaching over to brush over his tattoo. 

"After the first time. With my parents. I researched Bill and Demonology. Everything I could get my hands on. By the time Weirdmageddon happened, I had a library of occult solutions to Bill related problems. Of course, he destroyed my research but I do remember some of the more important things. 

In short, he will see me as a threat. I made sure of that" 

Even Batman doesn't have a rebuke for that, especially with Constantine looking ready to back him up and the others looking swayed. He grunts, turning to his children. 

Like a cue, that settles the matter. Everyone breaking off to have their own discussions and debates. Some of the members glancing at Tim in between whispers. 

Constantine seems like the only one confident in Tim's abilities and fortitude. Of course, they had gone demon hunting together. That would build a kind of partnership. 

But Tim doesn't take offence in the whispers, in the people questioning his abilities. After all, that would be somewhat hypocritical of him. 

Looking over everyone, he spots the flyers. He clocks the people he heard about having super strength. He glances over Cyborg, wondering what kinds of weapons he can load at a moment's notice. 

But more than that, he glances over his allies. 

During Weirdmageddon, he knew each of the fighters and what they were capable of. Dipper with book smarts and memorization, a knack for the occult. Mabel with her optimism and extremely high energy levels. Soos was a handyman, which will always come in handy. Wendy...too many skills to name. And the Pines twins...

Here, he knows no-one. He doesn't know their personalities beyond what he's seen so far. He doesn't know what drives them. He doesn't even know what their powers are. 

What he does know is that they don't know him and they definitely don't know Bill. So he would have to protect them. 

With that thought, Tim beckons Constantine over to him. It breaks the brewing fight between Constantine and Zatara, both gearing up to yell at each other. 

Tim can guess what they had been arguing about. After all, Constantine is the only person he really knows in this room. So Constantine is also the only person who knows him. His powers, abilities and limits. 

Constantine holds out a cigarette, gesturing for Tim to give him a light. Scoffing, Tim complies, lighting the end of the cigarette with his fingertip. As Constantine starts to smoke, drawing a reprimanding look from Superman, Tim smoothness out his expression. 

He needs Constantine to take him seriously at the moment "John" he says, earning a raised eyebrow. "I need you to swear something to me" he continues, looking straight into his eyes. 

Tim can see the suspicion in Constantine's eyes as he asks "What do you need?". Breathing deeply, Tim says "If Bill takes over. If Bill possesses me...I need you to wipe my mind". 

Constantine chokes on his mouth of smoke. It draws the attention of some league members but they only take the time to make sure he isn't dying before turning back. Tim takes the opportunity to slap him on the back a few times. 

The face Constantine gives him when he looks up is picture worthy. Utter bafflement and incredulity. But Tim keeps his expression cold, clinical. "Yer gonna have ta repeat that" Constantine whispers, voice ragged fromncoughing and accent heavy. 

"If Bill possesses me. I need you to wipe my mind. You have a spell or something for that, right?"

Constantine's expression remains the same but his eyes clear with understanding. He knows what Tim is asking "You know. There are other heroes that would be better for that. Martian manhunt is a psychic. Zatanna would be much better for this as well. Even Raven". 

Tim raises an eyebrow, lowering his chin before saying "They would hesitate. I know you wouldn't. If it comes down to it, you would save the world. And that's good. That's what I need". At that, Constantine has to glance away, taking a long, aggressive pull from his cigarette "You have to swear, John. Swear it to me" Tim demands, pushing to meet Constantine's eyes. 

Constantine's eyes harden before he let's out a growl "Fine. Ye utter bastard. I'll do it. But only. Only if I have to". 

That's all he says before stomping away to sit with Raven, about as far away from Tim or any of the league as he can get. But all Tim can do is smile. 

They'll all be fine.


	10. Bill Cypher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The justice league attempt to fight Bill Cypher. Tim pays the price.

"People evacuated?" Tim asks, voice hard. His eyes trained on the empty expanse in front of him, he doesn't turn to check who is delivering the news. 

"We sent out the call to evacuate to safe areas a day ago. Anyone who is left is on their own" Constantine says and it might sound callous but Tim gets it. He would do anything to have had a warning before Weirdmaggeddon. And especially from a well known organisation like this. 

The person behind Tim, however hesitates, breathing through their anger "Yes. As far as we know, everyone has evacuated. We also have people on the ground to help protect the structures, as well as support anyone who hasn't evacuated". Ah. So it's Superman. 

"Let me guess, Flash, the batfamily and Cyborg?" Tim guesses. Since they're the people who can't handle deep space without equipment. 

Well, Tim muses, neither can I. Currently surrounded in a green bubble, along with the other magicians, he smiles. 

Zatanna and Zatara would cast protection spells on themselves to be able to breath. Raven, as only half-human could leave the bubble at any time but chose to stay while waiting. 

Tim and Constantine, the only ones that need help to keep alive right here. 

It wouldn't matter though. Of course, they'd move down to earth level once Bill was lured but giving them a few minutes warning would be great. Plus, it would give the ground team the time they needed to check evacuations. 

After Bill is on his way, they would go back to planet level. Somewhere in the Karoo desert, where they would do the least damage. 

"Alright. Tim, when you're ready. Start the spell" 

Sitting down, Tim breathes, reaching deeper and deeper into his mind. Into his soul. Drawing out that bit of...other. 

Reaching ever closer until he can see colours burst from under his eyelids. Can feel the wave rock the bubble he's sitting in. 

Opening his eyes, he sees the inside of the green bubble rippling with grey, red and black. He sees Wonder Woman's question forming on her tongue. 

He turns and orders Green lantern to go back to ground level. 

For Hal's sake, we'll say he hesitated. In reality, Tim's eyes scared him, lightly yellow and glowing as they were in that moment. So he complies, flying down to ground level and taking both passengers with him. 

On the ground waits the justice league, the batfamily and even some other heroes. Tim only recognizes the Superman symbol on one of their chests. The others are a mystery to him. 

The others are going to be taking over evacuation efforts while the main justice league, batfamily and magicians fight Bill. 

When he lands, he immediately reaches to his side and pulls out his sonic blaster. It won't do much against Bill but it will draw his attention. And that. Is the entire point. 

Tim and Constantine will play distraction, angering Bill and keeping attention away from the main players. Zatara, Zatanna and Raven will be intermittently playing shielder while the other 2 blast Bill. Some members of the league will be taking pot shots and others keeping Constantine and Tim out of immediate danger, if it doesn't endanger them. 

So Tim stands ready. He can feel the anticipation build in his chest, his heart thumping a rhythm against his ribs. 

To his left stands Raven, hands up to create a shield at any moment, Zatara and Zatanna to her left. To his right, Constantine, hand clutched around a lighter and ready to run. 

At his back, Flash paces, wearing a trench into the sand. Batman and his brood stand ready, hands open but already armed. Superman and Wonder Woman float above his head, Cyborg staring at his wrist a bit to their left. 

Green lantern stands at point, fist clenched around his ring. 

The first sign of his arrival is a laugh. Insane and hysterical. Cruel even in sound. 

Tim sees a wash of colour flood around the landscape, turning cacti to screaming children, the sky bleeding crimson. Raven throws up her shield, the unicorn hair and symbols drawn onto her palm strengthening it. 

And the battle is on. 

Tim is the first to leave the bubble, rushing past Green lantern to face Bill alone, ignoring the calls from behind him. Once he steps past the bubble of purple, he knows that he isn't safe. Bill could do whatever he wants. 

Tim, however, is counting on that very fact. Bill won't kill him. Maybe turn him to stone like the townspeople. Maybe turn him to gold like Ford. Either way, Bill will want Tim alive to suffer. 

"Ah hello there Timmy. Never expected to see you again" the triangle says, floating in midair as if sitting, a wine glass of....questionable substance in his hand. Tim doesn't move, doesn't breathe, doesn't think. Not until Bill looks right at him. 

Then, he smirks, eyes taunting and body language smug "Hello Bill. Never thought I'd get the opportunity to beat you again". 

An angry Bill isn't normally what anyone would want. Ever. But an angry Bill is a Bill that isn't planning. And that, for them, is good. 

When Bill's eye stills, latching onto Tim's frame, he knows that he was right. We're taking away his stage, his toys, Tim thinks. Let him try to take them back, he challenges. 

The smirk on Tim's lips stay even as Bill transforms, golden triangle morphing to black. Two dimensional to Three dimensional. Extra limbs growing between the gaps. 

And once Bill is transformed, Tim turns. And runs. 

He makes it halfway back to the shield before a root materializes in front of him, writhing like a snake. Oh wait, he thinks when he sees the thorns dripping. It latches onto his leg, forcing him to clench his jaw to keep his bellow of pain down. 

In his peripheral, Tim can see Zatara and Zatanna blasting Bill with any spells that come to mind, Constantine running between his feet. The others still safely in the bubble besides the occasional punch from Flash and the somewhat more frequent blasts from Cyborg. Flash makes an attempt to reach Tim but is quickly stopped be a rain of fire. The message is clear, If any of them leave to help Tim, they would be killed. 

The attacks don't do much. The blasts cause sections of his body to singe before they heal back up. Flash's punches seemingly nothing more than mosquito bites. Zatara and Zatanna seem to have more luck, some spells blinding Bill for several minutes while one of Zatara's spells actually ties some of his limbs together. 

However, this is Bill. And Bill always did say "Reality is an illusion" so when he starts laughing anew, Tim struggles harder against the vine now encircling most of his leg. 

The thorns must have some kind of chemical or venom, since Tim's legs are rapidly losing feeling. Reaching for the sonic pistol, he lines up a shot to sever the vine but sees Bill aim a flying fireball at Constantine. 

He changes his aim at the last second. Landing a very powerful shot to Bill's midsection. It throws off Bill's aim enough to miss Constantine and draw his attention back to Tim. 

"You can't even help your own allies!" Bill laughs, causing the vine to slither up further on Tim's leg, now reaching his thigh. Tim's eyes had started to blur and colours beginning to blend together. He can hardly see the vine now. Shooting was no longer an option. 

Instead, Tim reaches for his pocket knife, slicing at the vine. He feels liquid spill across his wrist, unsure if it's from the plant or him. Whether it's venom or blood. It doesn't matter anymore. 

The rest of the league slowly joins in on the fight, the Bats keeping to the bubble, now sustained by Zatara as Raven takes her turn in the fight. The rest out in the open. 

And that. Is their mistake. 

When Bill sees the majority of the people are out of the bubble, his eye turns slitted. He waves a hand, sending out a wave of weirdness towards the group of fighters. 

Constantine manages to avoid it, having stuck closer to Bill's feet where he can't see. The others aren't as lucky. 

Both Tim and Constantine watch as the majority of the league, including: Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Zatanna, Raven and Green lantern slowly turn to stone. 

Some of them turn to Tim, eyes wide and mouths open. Screaming. Begging. And Tim wishes that the vine had taken all his sight. 

Now, it's only Tim and Constantine and the people in the bubble. But. Bill doesn't know that Constantine is still alive. That could be an advantage. 

So Tim signals Constantine to wait. To stay under Bill. Stay out of sight. Signals for the bats to stay in shelter and safety with Zatara. 

He waits. 

Luckily, he doesn't need to wait long. Bill takes in his new statue farm for a moment before he turns to Tim's prone form. 

Helpless. Vulnerable. Weak. Just the way Tim promised to never be again. 

Except, he isn't. He still has some cards left up his sleeve. So he pulls out the winning hand, ready to face off to the finish "Why Timmy" Bill starts, voice an imitation of shock and fondness. 

"I didn't know you were here, otherwise I'd visit"

"Go rot in hell, Cypher" Tim groans, only now noticing how heavy his tongue seems. This only seems to please Bill, who shrinks down to human size. Constantine steps back, behind Bill, still staying hidden. 

When Bill kneels at Tim's side, Hood twitches and reaches for his firearm. Red stops him as he draws, shaking his head. Both are pensive and tense, only able to watch as Tim is at this creature's mercy. 

"I destroyed your life. I killed your parents. I caused chaos wherever you built safety. And yet. Here you are. The ever-present thorn in my eye" 

Bill, still kneeling at Tim's side seems to scowl. Looking him over and noticing the cut in his leg, filled with more of his plant's venom, Bill lets out a snort of laughter. 

"You'd think you'd be easier to trap. But no. You're just a tiny, puny little human. Like the rest of them. Interesting at one point but redundant now" 

"Redundant. Like you didn't destroy my research because it threatened you" Tim manages, eyes starting to clear. The poison must be wearing off then. Maybe Tim can force himself to burn through it quicker by using magic. 

It doesn't matter. Bill's eye narrows, distain clear on his expression "You learned a few tricks, a few little bits and bobs. Don't think that you learned enough to actually be a threat to me". 

Tim strengthens himself, forcing his lips into a smile. He pushes his arms underneath him, pushing his upper body off the ground. 

If I'm going to die, I'm going to die with dignity. That's Tim's only thought before he draws on the latent magic in the air. The magic left over from Constantine, Zatanna, Zatara and even Bill. 

He grasps onto that bit of influence that's still left in him and sends a surge right through it. 

Bill's image flickers. Once, twice, three times. Everyone that's left can see him change from the black horror show back to the golden triangle and then to a stone statue with the only colour being the yellow ring. 

Tim though. Tim can feel Bill's energy, his presence drawing closer to him. Once it takes hold, Tim will no longer be in control. Luckily, he'd already accounted for that. 

When Constantine rushes to his side, much closer to him than the Bats, Tim gasps out one thing. 

"Do it. Memory. Do it" 

He can see Constantine's eyes, conflict warring in the blue. He can see the Bats rushing closer. He can see the statues slowly turning back human. But he cam also feel Bill. Just out of reach of possessing him. 

And before he knows it, he's forcefully ejected from his own body. Floating at his own shoulder as his eyes open. 

Yellow with a slitted pupil. The grin of a maniac. 

The laugh that leaves Tim's lips isn't his own. Everyone can tell that. So when Constantine reaches for Tim's forehead, they think that he's doing an exorcism just like he's known for doing. 

Zatanna recognizes it first, eyes widening as she steps to intervene. Raven stretches a hand out in front of her, stopping her. When Zatanna and Zatara look at her in confusion, Raven only shakes her head. 

By the time Constantine is done with the spell, Zatanna has her jaw clenched, lip between her teeth as tears flow down her face. 

It's the last sight Tim sees as he's pulled back into his body and thus unconsciousness.


	11. Magic and memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Constantine's spell and the battle. 
> 
> The pines twins finally realise that something is up.

"Do you think he'll wake up?"

"You what?!"

"He asked you to wipe his memories"

"I trust the bloke, alright?!"

Those are a few of the snippets that howl through the watchtower that night, as everyone reconvenes in the medical bay. 

Those that were turned to stone were thoroughly checked over by both Zatara and Batman. As the best at detecting lingering magic and the best medical professional consecutively. 

When they returned from the battle, everyone had been in shock. 

The fight had not been going well, they realised. In fact, it was going the opposite. They were losing. 

They had lost Tim early in the battle, caught by a poisonous vine. None of the attacks that anyone threw at Bill did anything either. The strongest being Raven's but it left minor damage that quickly healed. 

Then, they'd lost most of the team to a stupid mistake. Grouping together, making it easy to incapacitate them all with one move. 

The Bats hadn't left the bubble, though Hood wished he had. Though, as Red pointed out, their attacks wouldn't have done anything. And it could have resulted in more statues. 

"Who would have gotten them out of there if we weren't able to?" Nightwing eventually points out, bringing up the memory. 

Rushing towards Tim only to find Constantine muttering over him, hand on his forehead. Tim's eyes, wide open and crazed. Dyed a faint yellow. 

Zatanna being held back by Raven as Constantine finished up the spell. 

Tim's body going limp and the yellow fading from his rapidly closing eyes. Even as Zatanna fights her way forward to clutch at him. 

Constantine's eyes holding a heavy sadness as he explains that Tim had asked him to do this. To erase his mind, if ever Bill possesses him. 

Hood carrying Tim's limp body back to the infirmary, the league following even as most of them shiver in shock. 

Now, all they can do is argue. Many of the leaguers think that Constantine should not have gone through with the spell, quelling when Constantine asks them what else they would have done.

Others accept the choice that Tim made, a second after he's made it. 

Red is one of them. He understands Tim's thought process. He understands his reasoning. But. He can't help but wish that there had been another choice. 

Looking at Tim, now just laying on the bed as the IV attempts to flush whatever was on that vine out of his system, he looks so small. So fragile. 

Yet. Red knows that Tim is one of the strongest people here. Like Hood. Like Kon. Like Bart. 

A child that sacrificed themselves for the rest of the world. A child grown up too fast. That's all that Tim is. 

Can't even blame that entirely on Bill though, especially with Tim's story about his parents still fresh in Red's mind. Not that he will ever forget. 

Red can see his thoughts reflected in each and every league member around him. Dread and shame. Dread that Bill had done something to Tim that they couldn't see. Shame that they couldn't save him. That he felt the need to save them instead. 

And of course, at the worst possible moment, something else happens. A portal opens. Just like the one that landed Tim here. 

This time, the first thing that tells them who it is, is the voices. Two gruff voices, one slightly deeper while the other keeps to lighter tones. They seem to be arguing as well. 

"I thought he was with you"

"Why would he be with me?"

"You're obviously his favorite" 

A scoff "We share similarities" 

When the portal starts to fade, 2 men step into view. The same 2 men that came to fetch Tim last time he was here. Stan and Ford.

They step out of the portal, continuing to argue, though they stop when they see Tim in the hospital bed. The league's panicked expressions must have tipped them off. 

Immediately, they rush to the side of the bed. One of them draws a pistol much like Tim's while the other grabs a knuckleduster.

"Woah there mates. No need for violence or weapons. Tim's fine. Just unconcious for the time being" Constantine placates. That seems to relax them a smidge, causing the one to holster his weapon. The other doesn't bother, keeping the knuckleduster ready. 

"What happened?" The one Red is pretty sure is Stan asks. 

The silence that follows is oppressive, the league thinking and debating who should speak. And what to say. 

Constantine is the one to step forward, his head high but eyes full of regret. Not shame, he isn't ashamed of what he did. Regret that the situation called for such drastic measures. 

While Constantine explains the events, situation and spell, the league watches them all in waiting. Tim still lying still on the bed, blood seeping slowly through the bandage on his leg. 

"A mind wipe, huh?" Ford eventually says, looking contemplative as he stares at Tim's pale cheeks. When Constantine nods, Ford echoes it "He'll be fine. I'm guessing that it's the combination of energy drain and injury that made him like this. He should wake up in a few hours" 

Looking up, Stan sees the wary expressions of the league and sighs "He'll be fine. Tim is a strong kid. He'll recover". 

That's what snaps Hood's very short temper. "His mind was wiped, asshole. How is he supposed to recover from something like that?!"

Ford turns to him in confusion, laughing slightly uncomfortably at the looks. "You know that Tim has magic, right?". At everyone's nods, he continues "You know Tim is smart, right?" the nods are more hesitant this time but present. "So why do you think he didn't have a fail safe for this? Especially if he requested it?".

Red is the first to stop. Think. Would any version of him NOT have a backup for this? Especially a version of him with magic? 

None, he realised. No version of him would go into this, request that and not have any kind of backup plan. 

At his side, Hood verbalises that sentiment, having realised the same. To which Ford gives a smile and a nod. 

Behind Red, Bats' shoulders lose some of their tension, a few of the batfamily expressing their relief more obviously. Even some members of the league give visible sighs of relief. Wonder Woman even going as far as to thank Hera. 

"He should regain his memories when something triggers it. Obviously that will only happen when he's awake but it should happen anyway" Stan concludes, pulling a chair closer to drop into. 

Ford copies him, sitting at Tim's bedside, waiting for him to wake up.


	12. Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a short chapter unfortunately. But I am so glad that everyone stuck around to see the end.

"Who are you?" 

The first words uttered by Tim since the mind wipe cause everyone to still in guilt. Red Robin flinching at the blatant confusion in Tim's voice. 

"My name is Ford and this idiot, is my twin brother, Stan" the names bring no recognition to his eyes, still staring blankly at the twins. They don't seem discouraged by this though, continuing to smile at him, standing at his side. 

Each occupant takes a turn at introducing themselves, giving their codenames, hoping for any hint of recognition. Well all except for Red, who introduces himself as Tim's alternate. 

"Huh. So I'm in an alternate universe?" Tim asks, mystified. Ford had explained that Tim will retain all knowledge and facts, just not the memory of how he learned them. For instance, he would know that time travelers exist but not remember the name of the first one he met. 

They weren't suprised when Tim starts spitting rapid-fire questions about the physics involved. Conversing with Ford and Red about wormholes, multiverse theory and string theory. His whole body lights up with enthusiasm as he discusses something he enjoys. 

The league hovers at the edges of the conversation. Constantine and the other magicians keeping an eye on everything from the sidelines. 

The guilt stewing in their hearts won't allow them to leave. Won't allow them to leave Tim alone. Some of them even keeping an eye on the bandage as if it would start bleeding again at any time. 

When Constantine laughs at something, Tim's eyes spark with...something. Causing a swell of hope in the room's occupants. 

Looking at each other, the Bats smile, realizing that this version of Tim would be just fine. Superman's shoulders relax as well, some of the guilt draining from him like water off the back of a goose. 

They take turns to explain certain things to him, like Hood making a replacement joke, earning him a sour look from both Tims. Some of the mentions or jokes cause no reaction at all while others cause recognition to spark. 

When Constantine mentions Cape Town, Tim nods before saying "Tiny Demon" solemnly. Constantine can't help but laugh then, even while the league's eyes widen. After all Cape Town had to have been one of the best places on his rep. No-one died or lost their soul. A thing he can't say about many of his places. 

"I told you. He would regain his memories. A trickle at first but it'll start coming back faster once Tim's spell kicks in. Might take a while but it will kick in" Ford says, running a hand over Tim's head as Tim leans into his hand. "Hmmmm. Thanks Ford" Tim says, seemingly not even noticing that he said the name. But Ford smiles in a sort of...fatherly affection. 

"He'll regain his memories. We'll take him home and take care of everything. He'll recover faster there" Stan says brusquely, only Ford knowing that he's speaking from experience. Together, they then scan over the room, gathering all of Tim's belongings as they go. Removing a traces of Tim's existence bit the sketches on the wall. 

Ford's brows raise when he sees the etchings on the ceiling, glancing between Tim and the ceiling with a smile. He runs a hand over them, watching them light up with a slight green glow, from inside of the etchings themselves. Watching the glow fade from the etchings slowly, from one side of the room to another. 

Everyone then gathers in the living room, the room with the most space to work with. The Bats, magicians and League giving Tim a mental farewell. Hood and Red even waving Tim goodbye, earning a wave in return. 

As Stan stands there, with Tim leaning on his shoulder, Ford fiddles with something that looks like a snow globe and remote. A second later, the triangular portal opens up. This causes a flinch as everyone remembers the other dimensional triangulation being, the cause of the problem in the first place. 

Ford gives them all an understanding nod, a wry smile on his lips as he steps toward the portal. Stan and Ford both rest a hand on Tim's shoulders, guiding him toward the portal. 

The league watch them step into the blue light, leaving only shadows fading into the distance. Their eyes are heavy even as they think, Tim will be alright. He has to be. 

As Stan, Ford and Tim vanish through the portal, the last thing they hear being from one of the Bats' comms, presumably linked to the bugs they put on Tim. 

"Wait. Wait wait wait. Superbeings with tights? Like the comics kind of thing? Are you serious?" Tim asks, earning laughter from the 2 twins.


End file.
